Saturday Night Question
by kaito Chidori
Summary: Weiss is offered to join her friend Pyrrha and her guild mates in Beacon of Remnants Online, a fully immersive VR MMO. Upon entering this new world, Weiss encounters an energetic and mysterious girl named Crescent. Ruby Rose is an suffering girl who uses the virtual world to fulfill her happiness that is sorely lacking in the real world.
1. New Friends

With a loud thump as her book was slammed shut, Weiss was finally done with her homework that her private tutor had assigned her. Weiss's Father insisted that she continued studying over summer break and hired a very expensive tutor for her. She quickly glanced at her clock by her bed, she notices she has twenty mins left before she had to meet her friend.

'guess I better get ready to jump online, don't want to be late to meet Pyrrha.' Weiss pondered as she walked up to the side of her bed. A black skintight article of clothing that resembled a wetsuit sat on her bed, neatly folded and ready to be worn.

The suit had a front zipper that started from the top of the neck and ended just a centimeter or so above the waistline. Weiss began the process of changing into the suit and once she had it on, she decided to check herself out in the full-size mirror standing by her dresser.

"a-a bit tighter than I thought it would be…" she grumbled, adjusting the material against her pale skin. The suit hugged her body rather tightly. It was so tight that it fit her body so perfectly as if it were a second layer of skin.

Satisfied with the fit, Weiss finally laid down on her bed. Grabbing the helmet that was sitting on her nightstand and securely strapped it to her head. Laying down as straight as possible, she was ready despite how anxious she was. She has never used a Full Real VR device (or FRVR for short) before. FRVR was a rather new gaming tech, only existing for about 4 years. Using a skintight suit and a helmet combination to block the brain signals from reaching the rest of your body, instead using them as inputs into whatever game you were playing. As a safety feature, the suit also monitors the brainwaves, breathing, and heartbeat as well as the player's temperature. Weiss reminded herself of these things before taking a deep breath.

'they spent a whole decade perfecting the safety system alone, it's not like you'll get stuck in the game or anything.' Weiss reassured herself, shoving her anxiety to the side.

Weiss took one more deep breath and closed her eyes. "game start" she commanded and the helmet flicked on. A slight numbness slowly engulfed her and grew slowly, it felt like she was being forced to sleep by an unknown entity. After a few seconds, everything became white. Weiss couldn't feel anything as if she didn't have a body to command, but that quickly changed as room faded into existence around her. The room appeared to have a medieval aesthetic to it, completely made of wood. It wasn't too big, just enough space for one person to be satisfied with. Weiss quickly realized she finally had a body. Looking around the room, she noticed a oval shaped mirror in the corner of the room. a floating interface panel that was translucent appeared in front of said mirror. Walking up to the mirror, Weiss looked herself over, she was wearing a white button up shirt and brown trousers and boots. Her hair was brown and went to her shoulders instead of her alabaster hair that nearly reached her waistline back in the real world. At first she was confused by her reflection, but quickly reminded herself that this was probably the default hairstyle for girls entering Beacon of Remnants Online, also known as BRO. Weiss chuckled a little at the shortened name. not the best abbreviation she had ever seen, but she guessed it had its charm.

Shifting her gaze to the interface, she noticed there were little pictures of hair styles and colors, eye colors was also displayed below the hair options. She was a bit disappointed by the lack of character customization but that was sadly due to the nature of the suit and helmet her real body was wearing, it limited player customization due to concerns of how a player's character model and its proportions might affect the player's brain. For example, if the model had longer legs than in the player's real-life body, the brain would have trouble with balancing and walking. So to play it safe, the designers made the suit create the player's character model based off the player's own real life body proportions via the skintight suit.

Weiss was amazed at all the different hairstyles, she tried counting all of them out of pure curiosity but gave up at fifty, with maybe a hundred or so more remaining. One particular hairstyle caught her eyes, a ponytail that was slightly off set to the right. Such a simple design yet she couldn't help but feel like it was perfect for her, quickly touching the style with her index finger, her hair immediately changed to the desired haircut. Shifting her head side to side, she noticed the ponytail swayed with her movements. "perfect." Weiss said, looking at herself wearing a genuine smile. A smile she hadn't seen in a long time. Shifting back to the interface, she browsed the hair colors. Apparently, there were even choices for coloring certain parts of the hair, such as the tips for example. Deciding to go with a simple single color, Weiss chose an icy blue, she chose the same color for her eyes as well so that they matched.

She Looked herself over in the mirror for the fourth time, she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. "I am definitely gonna try this hairstyle in the real world someday." Weiss said, letting out a playful giggle. Wait. A giggle? Weiss felt weird; she couldn't remember the last time she giggled. Shaking her head, she shoved those thoughts away. Weiss clicked the finish button and a door along the wall on her right appeared. "ok, time to go out and find Pyrrha" Weiss opened the door and passed through the doorway. It was bright, it was as if she had just walked out into the sun for the first time in 6 months. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and she was quickly overwhelmed. She was in a city, one that looked like the kinda she would have seen in fantasy movies. People were everywhere, sitting on benches, chatting at cafes, running down the streets with friends. The city she found herself in certainly felt like a city.

"ok, Pyrrha said that there is a fountain down the street from where you enter the game." Weiss recalled Pyrrha's directions on how to meet her. Beginning her trek down a street that resembled the street Pyrrha described to her back at Lunch on Tuesday.

Weiss arrived at the large fountain which sat in the center of a round plaza with various shops built into the surrounding buildings. The fountain was made of stone with a marble angel statue sitting in the center with its hands clasped together in a praying gesture. 6 marble roses surrounded the marble angel at its feet, gushing out water from deep inside the center of the roses.

Weiss began looking around for someone that might resemble Pyrrha's character model that she described to her back on Tuesday. "I wonder if she's late?" Weiss pondered out loud to no one but herself. She summoned a small menu interface, showing the time in the top right corner, telling her that she was still five minutes early. "or I am just early…" grumbling to herself, she quickly closed the menu interface and walked up towards the fountain.

Weiss sat the edge of the fountain to wait for her friend, observing all the players and various shops around her. Ten minutes fly by and Weiss was quickly becoming impatient, tapping her foot on the ground with her arms crossed. "Where the hell is she?" Weiss growled. "it's not like Pyrrha to keep people waiting like this." Only a few seconds pass before a player with a bright red cape and hood caught her attention, or rather it was what the hooded player had on her back that stuck out from under her crimson cape. If she had to guess, it was a giant sword that was probably as big as the hooded player.

'someone is certainly compensating for something' Weiss scoffed with a smug look.

Suddenly, she noticed the other player that the hooded figure was talking to pointed towards Weiss. The hooded figure turned their head, revealing a very young and round looking face. Weiss swears she saw the hooded figure have a giant grin on her face. Wait. Her? A girl was wielding such a large sword? before she knew it, the hooded girl ran up to Weiss, pulling her hood down to reveal herself. The girl was maybe only three inches taller than Weiss, which irritated Weiss greatly since she was so used to wearing heels in the real world, without her heels she was greatly diminished to her small stature of a measly five feet. Weiss noticed the girl had short red tipped black hair and blood red eyes, wore a black corset over a red blouse and a black skirt to match the corset. She had silver looking shoulder pads and matching bracers and finally a pair of black combat boots. Weiss had to admit, the girl looked badass. With a cute face to top it off.

"You wouldn't happen to be Myrtenaster, right?" The girl had a cute voice Weiss thought. The girl was looking directly into Weiss' eyes, icy blue meeting Scarlet Red.

Weiss was simply confused, who was this person and how did she know her? "Yes?"

The girl grew a giant smile resembling a puppy who just received a brand-new toy. "I finally found you! I am so sorry I am late! Pyrrha told me to meet you at the fountain but I had just gotten home after some errands and then I had to get ready to log in which takes me a REALLY long time and-" Weiss cut off the girl's rambling by placing a finger on the girl's lips.

"hold up, Pyrrha sent you? And what do you mean she told you to meet me? Why wasn't I informed of this?" Weiss quickly barraged the girl with questions, not bothering to hide her frustrated tone.

"she said she texted you that something came up with the guild and wouldn't make it in time, so she sent me." The girl stated, removing Weiss' finger from her lips. Weiss guessed that Pyrrha must have sent the text after Weiss had already logged onto the game. "anyways, you can just call me Crescent." The girl chimed with a big grin.

Weiss just sighed, this 'Crescent' girl was is going to be a handful. "You may call me Myrtenaster." Weiss stated. The crimsonette quickly returned to smiling.

Crescent grabbed Weiss' hand without warning and started dragging her through the city. "Alright Myrtenaster, were gonna get you rolling." Crescent chirped, almost skipping with Weiss in tow. "we need you to select a Role, get you some gear, complete a few quests to get you leveled up a couple of times and after that we'll meet Pyrrha and the others at the Inn!" Weiss was a bit overwhelmed, her anxiety from earlier in her bedroom was quickly returning. Weiss never played a video game before let alone a FRVR MMO, the only reason she was even here is because Pyrrha convinced her that it would be a great stress reliever back at the café last Tuesday. Weiss tried to slow down Crescent. "w-wait, slow down. I am completely new to all this!" Weiss whined as she stumbled around, struggling to keep up with Crescent's pace

Crescent complied, slowing her pace and deciding to walk beside Weiss instead of dragging her. "Sorry…I just got really excited I guess, it's been a while since I got to make a new friend." Crescent scratched the back of her head sheepishly. She quickly realized she should try to socialize with her new blue haired friend. "so…Myrtenaster, how do you know Pyrrha?"

Weiss took note on how Crescent freely said Pyrrha's name. Pyrrha must not mind if her online friends knew her real name. "from school, we'll be starting our 2nd year in high school." Weiss stated, observing the shops they were passing.

"I'll be starting school soon too." Crescent quietly said, a hint of sadness accompanied her voice.

Before Weiss could respond, Crescent brought them to a large building with a sign that said Guild Hall above the large twin doors. "you can select your role here, but you can't change it afterwards. choose carefully." She chirped as she led Weiss inside, acting as if that sad response earlier never happened.

Crescent lead Weiss to an NPC standing behind a counter that had a menu interface. "go ahead and select a role, I'm just gonna go over to the NPC over there to grab some coins from the Guild Bank so we can buy you some gear." Ruby gestured over to an NPC just on the other side of the room. Weiss nodded and Crescent ran off to get some money.

Weiss watched the crimsonette run off, noting how the cute girl had a slight sway in her hips. 'well, she may talk a lot and is maybe a tad bit…energetic…but at least she seems nice, plus she is kinda cute and-…N-NO, bad Weiss! You just met her!' Weiss quickly shook her head to rid it of her gay thoughts. The last thing she needed was to be a useless lesbian no more than five minutes after meeting the cute girl. She proceeds to select her role, remembering that Pyrrha had recommended her the Mage role. Weiss may have never played a game before, but she wasn't ignorant of certain aspects of the fantasy genre, so she knew a Mage used magic to fight and cast spells.

"oh! You're gonna be a Mage?" a cheery voice come from behind Weiss

Weiss quickly turned her head toward her left side. Crescent was looking at the interface Weiss was using from over her left shoulder, oblivious to the fact that she was lightly pressing her body against Weiss' back. "Y-Yeah, Pyrrha recommended it. S-She said I seemed to be the mage type." Weiss stated. 'Why does she have to be so close!?'

"Cool, we've been needed a mage in our party for a really long time." Crescent chimed, smiling earnestly. Weiss couldn't tell if she just ignored Weiss' stuttering and blush or was just oblivious. Weiss hoped for the latter.

"Well, I suppose the next stop is the weapons and armor shop we passed earlier?" Weiss asked as she recalled the activities for the day.

Crescent started walking before she even began speaking. "yep, but you won't really need a weapon if you're gonna be a mage."

Weiss followed Crescent who seemed to be even more eager than before, which Weiss thought wasn't possible. "what do you mean? Shouldn't I have a sword or something in case my magic fails?"

Crescent grabbed Weiss by the arm and pulled her into the weapons and armor shop. "Nope" Crescent simply said, popping the 'P'. "you'll be carrying around a staff"

They walked up to a blonde player who was behind the counter, using a forge to create items. "Hey Jaune, fancy seeing you here." the crimsonette chirped as she gestured for Weiss to go ahead and look for some gear. "Wei- err, I mean…Myrtenaster, go ahead and look for a mage set. I'll pay for it so don't worry about the cost, just make sure it's for your level…which is level one by the way." Weiss nodded, fighting back the urge to tell the girl she knew what level she was, but she didn't want to argue with anyone on the first day of meeting them.

Jaune looked over his shoulder, then back to the forge. Clearly focusing on whatever he was trying to make. "Hey Crescent, I didn't see you online past couple of days, you've been online nearly 24/7 all summer, everything ok?" Jaune asked, a small hint of concern hid behind his cheery exterior.

Crescent rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "yeah, I…I was just busy last couple of days."

Weiss couldn't help but noticed that the girl looked like she was trying to hide something for a second. Deciding to think nothing of it, she resumed looking at the mage section. However, she was a bit disappointed that all the robes available for level one players were unspeakably bland, mostly consisting of just one color and that was it.

Finally, after a couple minutes of looking, she found a robe that caught her eyes. It was white with a blue belt. Sure, it wasn't anything fancy but it was the only one that Weiss thought would complement the Icy blue hair and eyes of her character model.

"Hey Crescent, I found the perfect robe for me." Weiss stated, maybe a little too happily

A few hours and a couple of beginner quets later...

"Get it off! Get it off!" Weiss whined, trying to pry a slime monster off her leg with her plain wooden staff. The slime was slowly eating away at her health.

Crescent sat on a rock and laughed at her new friend's antics. "it's just a slime! They are literally, THE weakest thing to fight!" She explained in between laughing fits. Weiss felt her pride shrink a little after hearing that.

Finally getting the slime off her leg, Weiss summoned a blue magic circle which fired an ice shard at the slime, killing it instantly. Sighing in relief, she quickly turned to the girl who had been laughing at her suffering and gave the crimsonette a deadly glare. "you are such a dolt." Weiss thought 'Dolt' was the perfect nickname for the giant sword wielding girl. She was hyperactive, easily distracted, spazzy…cute…maybe a little thick around her thighs….where was she going with this? Weiss shook her head, trying shift her focus away from Crescent.

The crimsonette sat up from the rock. "oh yeah? Well, I didn't think you'd be scared of a little slime. Ice Queen." She looked at Weiss with a smug look.

Ah yes, the nickname that Crescent gave her about 20 minutes ago after noticing that Weiss preferred to attack with her ice spells instead of fire ones like most mages tended to do. "I'm beginning to really get tired of that nickname…" Weiss deadpanned to no one in particular. It didn't help much that it was the same nickname that her schoolmates would use behind her back, excluding Pyrrha of course.

"S-Sorry…I'll stop using it if you really don't like it… I didn't mean to insult you or anything…" the confidence in Crescent suddenly disappeared. Was this girl bipolar or something? Where did that smug aura disappear to?

"It's fine Crescent, I'm not insulted….just feel like my pride is damaged from these slimy hell spawns." Weiss stomped her foot on the remains of the slime she killed, trying to change the topic so Crescent didn't look so glum.

"Right, but still…I'll stop using it anyways, since you clearly don't like it." Crescent reassured with a small and earnest smile. she then walked up to Weiss and wrapped one of her arms around Weiss' neck "congratulations by the way, you leveled up a couple times. Ready to go head back and meet everyone else at the Inn, Myrtenaster?"

Weiss nodded, anything to get away from her newly acquired slimy nemesis. She really did hate slimy things, and seeing them move on their own and attack you? That only terrified her, but she won't ever admit it.

After they reached the Inn, Weiss noticed it also acted as a pub of sorts for social gatherings. Crescent lead her to a table by a window, three people already seated, one was Jaune who Weiss saw a bit earlier at the weapons and armor shop. Next to him sat a man who had a pink streak in his long black hair, he wore green leather armor with pink trimming and had two daggers at his hips. Across from them sat a girl who Weiss could only assume was Pyrrha. The girl's Red hair matched but she wore it in a ponytail and had pointed ears like an elf. She also had red and gold armor and carried a sword and round shield that matched her color scheme. Crescent ushered Weiss onto the bench next to Pyrrha, across from the two guys.

"Sorry, Myrtenaster. I hope Crescent didn't cause you any issues. She can be quite a handful sometimes" Yep, that was Pyrrha alright. Always quick to apologize. Plus, that was obviously her voice.

Weiss turned to her red-haired friend, she was glad that Pyrrha knew Weiss wouldn't be comfortable letting everyone know her name just yet and had opted to calling her by her in game name. "It was actually a lot of fun. I have to admit that you were right, I really did need something like this to take my mind off things."

"So, you're the friend Pyrrha told me about, glad to finally meet you." the black-haired man said, he sounded stoic yet sweet. He looked young but yet still a bit older than Weiss.

Crescent perked up. "oh! this is Ren, he uses his last name as his in game name. he's also a freshman at a university!"

"pleasure to meet you, Ren." Weiss stretched her hand out over the table to shake his hand.

Ren accepted her gesture. "the pleasure is all mine."

"careful, don't want Boop to get jealous over a handshake." Jaune teased Ren.

Ren sighed. "she won't get jealous, she would make it very obvious that we're 'together-together'." Ren stated, using finger quotes.

Everyone laughed in response, Weiss however just chuckled a bit to play along since she clearly didn't understand the context of what they were referring to.

They spent the rest of the remaining hour getting to know Weiss and vice versa. Apparently, everyone in the guild was somewhere between level 20 and 30. This gave Weiss hope that she could maybe catch up to their level if she spent all day Sunday tomorrow to level up.

Weiss also made sure not to say too much about her personal life, wanting to just leave all that outside of the game.

Once the hour passed, Weiss said her goodbyes and got ready to log off. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, goodnight." Weiss said, making sure to give her new friends a smile as she logged off and disappeared from the Inn

Slowly opening her eyes, she felt her body once again. Her real body. She removed the helmet and let out her long Alabaster hair. She quietly set the helmet back on the nightstand. Weiss couldn't help but notice that she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. For once, she actually had fun. As she got up, she noticed that night has fallen, it was 9:12pm. Weiss had one more day before the first day of her second year of high school started.

Weiss took a quick shower and changed into her white nightgown and went to bed, thinking about the new friends she made until a sudden realization hit her. Everyone in the guild was calling each other by their real names, all except for the crimsonette. Well, and of course herself. But why wasn't Crescent addressed by her real name? did her friends even know her real name? was she like Weiss? Wanting to leave her personal life outside the game? Weiss quickly ran out of questions however and just as she did, she fell fast asleep. Probably the best sleep she had in a long time


	2. The Last Hour of Summer Vacation

"Crescent! You said there would be no slimes in this dungeon!" Weiss screamed in terror with her staff close to her chest as she ran down a stone corridor with her black haired warrior friend.

"why would I know that a dungeon filled with BEOWOLVES would have a giant, ten foot tall evil slime as a boss fight!" Crescent shouted back as she ran in front of Weiss, holding her giant sword over her shoulder. "Also, this is the only time I think your irrational fear of slime is justified!"

"S-Shut up!" was Weiss's only comeback.

The slime was a vile shade of green and was much faster than it looked. It had been chasing them for a good five minutes all over the dungeon, which apparently was an old alchemy lab used by a large group of alchemists and had many corridors and rooms. The reason Weiss and Crescent weren't fighting the Slime in the boss chamber? Well, a certain blue haired mage freaked out and ran away the moment the Slime ambushed them from the ceiling of its chamber, causing Crescent to chase after Weiss while the Slime Chased after both of them. Finally, Crescent found the room she was looking for too lead the Slime into, A large hall that they fought in earlier against a pack of beowolves. The room had many long tables with various alchemist tools and glass vials that came in various shapes and sizes. Crescent and Weiss stopped in the center of the large hall, the Slime not far behind. "Ok, we'll fight it here. Myrtenaster, you need to freeze it in place as much as possible with that new spell you got earlier today." Crescent commanded as she stood ready to lunge at the Slime the moment it came into the room.

Weiss summoned a huge icy blue magic circle that appeared on the ground right in front of the doorway they had just came from. "already ahead of you, Crescent. A-All I ask is for you to keep its slimy t-t-tentacles away from me." Weiss mumbled the second half, trying her best not to show fear." Crescent however, only giggled at her. "I'm serious!" Weiss snapped

Crescent gave her best impression of a typical Prince Charming character. "Don't worry Myrtenaster, I won't let a single tentacle touch even a single strand of your pretty hair."

Weiss rolled her icy blue eyes in mock annoyance and played along, putting on her best damsel in distress voice. "Oh my, my hero is such a dolt~." A few seconds pass until the two girls giggled at their own antics.

The girls didn't have much time to enjoy their antics however, as the slime busted through the doorway with two tentacles flailing about angrily. Weiss immediately actived her trap as the slime moved over it, causing large Ice to consume the large slime. Crescent wasted no time to jump at the frozen slime, slicing a large chunk of ice containing a portion of the slime, then another chunk, then a third. Each chunk eventually vanished. Suddenly, the allotted time for the slime to be frozen had ended and the ice disappeared like glass being turned to dust. Now free, the slime swung one of its tentacles at Crescent, throwing her across the room and crash into a table, snapping it in half in the process. "Crescent!" Weiss screamed, summoning two red magic circles, shooting fireballs at the Slime, drawing its attention away from Crescent. The slime moved through the tables, ignoring the obvious magic circle that laid just a foot in front of it. "Come on, just a few more inches…" Weiss whispered to herself.. The Slime lunged its tentacles toward Myrtenaster as it moved ever so closer to Weiss' trap. Crescent got up from her crashed landing and saw the slime begin it's attack on Weiss and immediately sprang into action, placing herself between the slime and Myrtenaster. However, the slime was frozen just before the strike could make contact with Crescent's body. Crescent charged forward with great speed, sending a flurry of strikes on the Slime, dropping one chunk of it after another. Yelling with each strike. "Don't. You. Dare. Touch. My. Princess!" The Slime was quickly whittled down to nothing. Crescent stood over her victims remains for a couple of seconds before she turned to face Weiss to give her an exhausted smile posed in a chivalric stance. "The Slime is Vanquished, M'lady." Weiss stood there for a few seconds, still shocked at the sudden outburst from the sword wielder.

"Umm...over kill much?" Weiss hesitantly asked.

Crescent returned her sword to its place under her red cloak and shrugged. "What do you mean? I said I wouldn't let it hurt you and I like to think I am a woman of my word" Crescent stood with her hands on her waist and her head tilted up in pride, the slime disappearing behind her in a burst of stardust, creating a grand picture for Weiss's eyes. '_She may be such a dolt, but she's a badass Dolt.'_ Weiss Admired, not realizing she had a blush creeping up on her face. Suddenly, she noticed a gold chest appeared behind Crescent. "Hey, I've never seen a gold chest before!" Weiss squealed as she ran over to the chest in excitement.

Crescent followed with a smile on big smile her face. "Go head and open it up! You need it more than I do"

"really? You defeated the slime though; shouldn't you take it?" Weiss asked.

"nope" Crescent said nonchalantly, popping the 'P'. "It's all yours." Weiss nodded and touched the lock on the chest, causing it to abruptly open. Revealing itself from the chest was a white staff that head a large snowflake at one end, an icy blue gem that floated in an empty space in the center of the snowflake. Weiss touched the staff and it disappeared into her inventory. She eagerly summoned the menu interface and opened the inventory tab, quickly selecting her new staff. Her old wooden staff was replaced by the new one. A large smile grew onto Weiss' face. "it's beautiful."

"Well, I mean it did come out of a gold chest" Crescent chirped.

Weiss and Crescent began their journey back to Vytal city where they planned to meet up with Jaune and Pyrrha to hang out for the remaining hour of the day before they all started a new school year. Pyrrha and Jaune are already at the Inn, waiting at a booth. "I'm just saying, Crescent might be either addicted to the game or has no life. I mean, she has been online almost everyday and all day for the whole summer." Jaune rebuked a little too loudly.

"Well, don't you think that's her choice?" Pyrrha asked. She had known Crescent far longer than Jaune had. She first met the young girl when Crescent first started nearly two years ago and taught her everything she needed to know. On the day they met, Pyrrha found Crescent at the spot where everyone first joins the game. Crescent was…odd on that first day, she was constantly looking at her own legs with a giant smile plastered onto her face. Pyrrha saw her and decided to help the girl learn how to play. They quickly became friends and Pyrrha Invited her into the Guild alongside Boop and Ren. However, Pyrrha was just as clueless as everyone else in their guild about the person that hid behind the name 'Crescent', all everyone knew was that she was a spazzy big ball of energy and loved cookies and strawberries and that she is 14 years old. Any questions that were even remotely personal was always either ignored or shrugged off.

"well, yeah. But don't you worry about her health? I mean we're her friends and yet we just let her spend 60% of her days online. It's like she doesn't spend any time with her family." Jaune has been concerned for the last month or two, he and Crescent were close friends and he couldn't help but have his older brother instincts kick in. "I guess I can't help but see my little sisters in her sometimes…"

"Well, it's the last day of summer. She should be in school tomorrow just like the you and me, as well as Myrtenaster." Pyrrha reassured Jaune. Not a second later did Weiss and Crescent finally make it to the Inn. Pyrrha noticed Weiss's knew staff. "Hey, that's a wonderful staff you got there."

Weiss sat next to Pyrrha while Crescent sat next to Jaune and across from Weiss. "Thank you, I got it after we killed a giant slime for a quest for a quest that took us into a dungeon." Weiss felt a lot of pride in slaying the giant slime. She then looked over towards Crescent "Crescent insisted that I get the loot despite her doing most of the work."

Crescent rubbed the back of her head as her cheeks began to turn a light shade of pink. "oh, it was nothing. I already have good enough gear at the moment and besides, you really needed a new staff anyways." Weiss saw Crescent's subtle blush and immediately felt a swell of pride fill her. _'yes! I finally made her blush! After constantly making me flustered with her antics, I finally returned the favor…though I would kill to see her with a full on blush. One step at a time, Weiss.'_

Jaune jumped in. "Hey Crescent, I've been meaning to ask but what made you use the name Crescent?" Pyrrha gave him a subtle glare, knowing Crescent wouldn't be very comfortable with the question. Weiss noticed this but decided not to think into it and turned her attention back towards Crescent.

Crescent was visibly nervous, her scarlet red eyes darting from side to side before locking them onto her lap where she had her hands clasped together "Um…well, um, I just…really like the moon." Crescent stammered. Weiss couldn't bear to see Crescent look so vulnerable '_She's clearly uncomfortable, why doesn't Pyrrha stop Jaune, she clearly knew what was gonna happen? Well if she won't then I will, no one hurts my Dolt!' _Weiss kicked John's leg under the table in a way that made it seem like Pyrrha did it and proceeded to act innocent. "Ow!" Jaune yelled. "Pyrrha, why did you kick me?" Pyrrha looked confused, shaking her head. "I didn't do any-…Myrtenaster!"

Weiss shot up and pointed at Jaune, giving him her patented Schnee death glare. "he was making Crescent uncomfortable with a his CLEARLY prying question, and you, Pyrrha, you knew what he was doing and did nothing." Crescent was startled by the sudden angry Myrtenaster, she never saw the girl angry until now, though she only knew her since yesterday. Despite that, she was still quite shocked. Pyrrha quickly tried to calm Weiss. "Myrtenaster, please…sit back down and lets just forget it happened." Weiss sighed in defeat. As she sat down, she noticed Crescent was staring at her with her scarlet red eyes and a smile that looked as if she was trying to say thank you through telepathy.

'_I know I overacted, but god damn it she just looked too fragile like that…Crescent clearly is uncomfortable talking about herself. Let's see how Jaune likes being asked personal questions, shall we?'_ Weiss looked over to Jaune. "I'm sorry Jaune, I overacted. However, I'm kind of curious as to why YOU named yourself 'Jaune'." Weiss stared at Jaune, hoping to see him get uncomfortable like Ruby.

As expected, Jaune looked like he was just asked to tell an innocent child the secret to life. "well, um, I…" Jaune stammered like the bumbling blonde he is. Pyrrha chimed in, knowing what Weiss was trying to do. "Oh, I am curious as well, how did you come up with that name?" Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head "I…I kinda used my real name because I was told that it was proper internet etiquette…" all three girls looked at him in shock for a couple of seconds before giggling, then giggling turned into full on laughter. "you what!?" Crescent squealed, holding her hands against her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably.

"Who the hell told you that!?" asked Weiss between laughing fits.

Jaune grumbled to himself, crossing his arms in defeat. "my older sister, Saphron…."

"Wow, that is so evil." Pyrrha finally chimed in as her laughter died down.

"I thought 'Jaune' was just you're fake ingame name, I didn't even think it was your real name!" Crescent cried out, still laughing her butt off. Weiss realized that yesterday she thought everyone was using their real names knowingly. But in a twist of events, she realized that Pyrrha and Ren were the only two people yesterday that intentionally used their real names.

"And here I thought Crescent and I were the only people keeping our real names hidden." Weiss leaned back into the booth with her arms crossed until she realized that she might be late for dinner. "also, I think I should log off. I need to eat dinner before going to bed. I'll see you guys later." Weiss got up from the booth and turned to her friends before logging off. "good night, Myrtenaster!" Crescent chirped as she glowed with a huge smile. "you too, Crescent" Weiss spoke softly, trying to save a mental image of Crescent looking so happy. Weiss logged off and disappeared from existence. Pyrrha and Jaune shifted their combined attention to Crescent. Pyrrha was the first to speak "So, Crescent. I hope you don't mind me asking…but did Myrtenaster know that the quest she got that staff in was an old valentine's day quest that requires two players to slay the monster?" Pyrrha gave her a knowing look. Crescent wasn't expecting her friends to figure her out so quickly, she simply nodded as the redness in her cheeks increased. _'curse the developers for using the temperature monitor on the helmet to create artificial blushing!…it offers nothing to the gameplay! Nothing I say!'_ Crescent screamed internally. Jaune joined in on the tesing. "And that the player who does the most damage to the slime is forced to let their partner have the loot as a sign of affection?" by this point, Crescent's face was as red as her cape. She buried her face into her hands. "mhmm!" she whined as she quickly nodded. Pyrrha only furthered the teasing. "well, I didn't think the Great and powerful Crescent, master swordswoman, was so bashful when it came to her feelings for a certain mage." Pyrrha teased her with her signature smug smile.

"S-S-Shut up! S-She's just really c-cute and a-adorable when I embarrass her and s-stuff. She's really nice and I d-don't know if I even l-l-l-like her that way anyways! I just wanted to do something nice and so I saw that the quest loot included a staff I thought she'd like. And since the loot was dependent on the player's role, it would be guaranteed to be a staff if I made it to where I did most of the damn to get her to take the loot" Crescent huffed as she finished her rambling confession, trying catch her breath. However, her blush has only become more intense with the confession.

Pyrrha giggled at the younger girl and got up. "well, I'm gonna log off now. I wish you luck in your pining for Myrtenaster, Crescent. Good night you two."

"Good night, Pyrrha." Jaune said with a wave. Crescent only nodded, deciding to shut herself up before she embarrasses herself even further. Pyrrha logged off and like Weiss, she disappeared.

Jaune spoke up, slightly startling Crescent. "Crescent…I'm sorry about asking you a personal question earlier…I just wish you'd open up a little with your friends, they…we care about you. Being online for practically 3 months straight, leaving only to sleep and eat or go to the bathroom isn't right…" Crescent's blush disappeared the moment Jaune started his friendship speech.

Sighing in defeat, Crescent decided to confide to Jaune…but only a little. "I know…I just don't want to be in the real world at this moment in my life….all, I'll say for now…is that the real world only brings me sadness." Crescent was toneless, but there was an obvious sadness in her voice. Jaune stayed quiet for a long while, processing what his friend had said. He wanted to be careful with how he responds, he didn't want to make her regret telling him this sad personal information, regardless of how vague it was. Finally, he found the right words. "I…I understand. I'm just letting my big brother side get the best of me. I have 7 sisters by the way, 5 of them younger than me." Crescent glanced over at him, she was reminded of another blonde she knew outside the game. She sighed, feeling a bit guilty of making her friends worry all this time. "Thanks, Jaune, I won't be on very often starting tomorrow…but I promise you I'm not in any bad home or something like that back in the real world. Quite the opposite actually, I have an awesome home and family…my issues are just that, MY issues….anyways, I'm gonna log off. I think my brain needs a good night sleep before its tortured by boring lectures tomorrow." Crescent forced a smiled at her own joke towards the education system. Jaune chuckled "alright, goodnight Crescent." Crescent logged off without saying anything.

Her consciousness slowly returned to her body. She accidently let out a whimper as her emotions finally had a physical outlet to be released from. She removed her helmet as quickly as she could, her tears had nowhere to go in the virtual world since pixels can't cry and now they flooded her cheeks. Her body was still in the process of gaining feeling again, all except for her legs. The feeling of her legs would never return. She silently cried as she stared at the inky blackness that made up her ceiling. "d-damn it J-Jaune…w-why d-did you have t-to make m-me feel g-guilty…." The girl cried in isolation for a good twenty minutes before turning on the lamp that sits at her nightstand. She dragged herself off the bed and into her wheelchair that was parked on the right side of her bed. Wiping her face of tears before propelling herself into the bathroom.

Turning the light on, the girl parked herself in front of a large mirror that started on the floor and reached just halfway up the ceiling. Across from the mirror was a bench that she used to change in and out of clothes and inspect herself in front of the mirror. It's impossible to change clothes in the wheelchair since it would roll around while she shifted her body to remove the clothes. She pushed herself out of the wheelchair and onto the bench, groaning in pain as her body had been still for little over 24 hours. She never logged off last night after meeting Myrtenaster for the first time. Once she was seated onto the bench, she unzipped the skintight suit all the way down to her waistline and began removing the only thing covering her body, she struggled to remove her soft, plump legs from the suit just like always. '_stupid fat, maybe I should eat a little less…just a little. I don't want my legs to get too skinny.'_

Once removed, she through the suit onto her wheelchair. And there she was in the mirror, a vulnerable looking girl with long scraggly black hair that fell over her back and shoulders and went down over her chest. The bags under her eyes begged her to sleep and the remains of tears on her cheeks signified her sorrow like a neon sign. She trailed her eyes across her own body. The girl wasn't big nor skinny, but rather a good balance inbetween. She was somewhat muscular but still slim, but her legs were a different story. She can't exercise her legs if she can't move them after all, so she ate a lot to make sure her legs didn't waste away, causing them to be soft and, as some people would say, thicc around her thighs. A stark contrast from the rest of her athletic body. Finally, there were the scars that dotted her abdomen and upper legs around her thighs. Three scars that many would mistake as knife woulds were around her abdomen, centered around her belly. Her thighs had the most scars and they were small but still quite noticeable against her pale skin. they were the reminder of a very dark day for her, especially the one that dashed dangerously close to her spine just above her waistline. Suddenly the girl shook her head and then smacked her cheeks to snap herself to attention. "that's enough feeling sorry for yourself, Ruby Rose…you have a bed waiting for you…" she commanded herself with a toneless voice. Ruby went through the aggravating process of getting into the bathtub that set right next to the bench. '_Everything is so much more difficult without the use of legs_' she knew this was an understatement, but she didn't care, she just wanted to complain one more time before going to bed. Ruby sat onto another bench that was built into the bathtub so she could shower. She just wanted to rinse off the sweat from her body and then quickly head to bed. Turning on the showerhead, her body was greeted by icy cold water. Her body shivered violently by the sudden change in temperature but her body slowly adjusted to it. _'I wonder what tomorrow will have in store for me…maybe I'll make a new friend?'_ Ruby sat there in silence, only the sound of her own thoughts and water gushing out of the showerhead and hitting the ceramic tub filled her ears.

After ten minutes passed, Ruby turned the water off and dried herself for another solid three minutes. Feeling she is dry enough; she wrapped the towel around herself. Dragging herself away from the bench, she expertly pulled herself into her wheelchair and made her way back to bed. Ruby was too exhausted to bother the never-ending annoyance of shoving her legs into pajama bottoms, so she decided to just throw on a black tank top and a pair of her red panties and proceeded to get into bed. After pulling the covers over herself, Ruby turns the lamp off and not a second sooner did her exhaustion finally consume her into a warm slumber.


	3. Deja Vu And The Bet

Weiss' first month of school was slow and stressful, she only had time to play Beacon of Remnants during the evenings on school days and on most weekends. This made of course made Crescent only value Weiss's time in the virtual world even more. however, today was a typical Friday for Weiss. That is, until Mr. Ozpin called her into his office after her last class of the day.

'_what would the principal want with me? I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm clearly not in any trouble…right?'_ Weiss had the best grades in the school, straight A's and perfect attendance. Once she made it to the Principal's office, she was just about to knock on the door until she heard that someone else was already inside with Mr. Ozpin. "I understand your predicament but it's not very wise to get zeroes on all your assignments in all your classes." Ozpin sounded concerned yet also stern nevertheless. "well, maybe I don't want to be wise…" a second voice that Weiss didn't recognize responded to Ozpin, it was a bit high in pitch but somehow sounded depressed and obviously a girl's voice. Ozpin's voice was heard again. "You had amazing grades just last year, though not as good as they were two years ago, but still great none the less. I am deeply disappointed that such a great student has changed so much in such little time, especially one that got to skip two grades because of-"

"Miss Schnee, it's not polite to eavesdrop." A stern feminine voice bought Weiss to attention. Miss. Goodwitch, the school counselor, was standing behind her with a clipboard pressed to her chest and a neutral yet stern expression on her face. The older woman wore a white blouse and a typical, black office skirt.

"Sorry, Miss Goodwitch." Weiss stated, standing to the side of the door. Weiss didn't dare to argue with the notoriously strict woman.

"It's fine, let's go inside shall we?" Miss Goodwitch opened the door and led a hesitant Weiss inside. '_why am I going in too? I thought Mr. Ozpin was busy with someone else?'_ Weiss was even more confused with the situation now, just what the hell was going on? After walking through the doorway, Weiss's eyes were immediately drawn to the person Ozpin had been talking to. A girl with long and messy black hair. She was wearing a baggy red hoodie and grey sweatpants. The most shocking part, however, was that the girl was in a wheelchair. Weiss took her seat in a chair on the girl's left side. The girl's black hair framed her face in such a way that made it difficult to see her face from the sides. Weiss didn't recognize her but felt she probably saw her a few times in the hallways of the large school.

"Glad to finally have you join us, Miss Schnee." Ozpin welcomed Weiss and Goodwitch with a stoic smile. Weiss quickly shifted her attention to Mr. Ozpin, not wanting to be caught staring at the wheelchair the girl was sitting in.

"You called me here, Sir?" Weiss asked, still unsure of what is going on.

Ozpin was quick to the point after taking a sip of hot chocolate. "Miss Schnee, this is Ruby Rose. She has been failing her classes lately and needs a tutor."

Weiss's brain finally put everything together in an instant. It wasn't the first time she had tutored someone, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. "I take it that you want me to be that tutor?" Weiss asked in her Schnee patented confident and eloquent voice.

"Right, I'd like you to tutor Ruby after school starting Monday." Ozpin explained nonchalantly, taking sips of his hot chocolate in-between their conversation. Wiess couldn't remember a single time he wasn't drinking from his signature mug.

Weiss was about to speak, but Ruby Rose beat her to the punch. "I don't need a tutor; I know how to do the work, I just choose not too…" Ruby sounded angry but remained using her soft voice nonetheless. Weiss thought the voice could be cute if it didn't sound so depressed. In the corner of her eye, Weiss saw Miss Goodwitch writing on her clipboard as soon as Ruby finished speaking.

Ozpin took a long sip of his drink before speaking up. "I'm afraid it's not negotiable Miss Rose, Weiss Schnee will tutor you. How you two go about that is up to the both of you. However, Miss Goodwitch will be checking up on your progress each Friday." Ruby simply crossed her arms in a pout with her face turned slightly toward Weiss, Weiss finally saw the girl's face. Ruby had pale skin, her face was round and smooth. Her eyes were a deep silver that looked like they could stare directly into your soul. Of course, Ruby noticed Weiss' staring and immediately turned her head away. "d-don't stare…" Ruby quietly mumbled her words, barely being registered by the teachers.

'_is she blushing? oh my good she is! That's so adorable!...damn it, no! why are you always like this!? First Crescent and now this girl? Get a grip, girl!'_ Weiss shook her head and switched her attention to Mr. Ozpin. "So, I guess I don't have a choice in the matter either then?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm afraid not, I can't think of anyone better than you, Miss Schnee." Ozpin knew just what words to say to the prideful Weiss Schnee. Weiss would never back away from a challenge, especially if it meant helping a fellow student or making a new friend and by the gods, she really needed more than one friend other than Pyrrha…Pyrrha was the only student in the school to look past Weiss' cold exterior to find that Weiss' just didn't know how to properly talk to people without resorting to her patented Schnee façade of superiority.

Weiss got up from her chair, turning to face Ruby. "Well, that's that…I look forward to tutoring you Monday. I hope we can get along Miss Rose." Weiss tried her best to sound formal but still friendly, stretching out her hand. Ruby had other ideas though and simply turned her wheelchair around and proceeded to the door. "whatever, I'll see you Monday…" Ruby grumbled, not bothering to hide the anger in her quiet voice. And with that, Ruby had left. Weiss gave the two teachers her farewells and made her way out of the school. Awaiting her was a black limo, with Klein holding a door open for her. "thank you Klein." Weiss always gave Klein her most genuine smile.

After arriving home, Weiss was immediately greeted by her brother. "well, you're unusually late, Sister." Whitley stated, not taking his eyes off his homework. Weiss ignored him and made her way to her room; it was a rare kind of Friday in that she had no homework, the fruits of her effort. Weiss prided herself in getting as much work done as possible before the weekends, giving herself as much free time as possible. Upon entering her room, she locked the door and threw her backpack to the side. She recalled the events of the day, leading her to the event that decided to limit her time online even more. "looks like I may only get to go online during the weekends now...damn it, Ozpin. Why do I have to tutor someone who doesn't need it. I heard you praise that girl for crying out loud" Weiss jumped onto her bed, landing on her back. "I hope Crescent doesn't mind my limited time…" Weiss laid on her bed for a good few minutes with her thoughts before getting up quickly. "alright, time to relieve some stress." Weiss chirped with an excited smile growing on her face. She quickly changed into the tight, black FRVR suit and get into bed. After securing the helmet to her head, she dived into the wonderful world of Beacon of Remnants.

Weiss spawned in the Inn that her guild had used as their usual hang out. Suddenly, a party invite popped up the second she was online, along with a message. It was from Crescent. '_wait, was she waiting for my status to go online up until now? Not sure if I should find that cute or creepy'_. Weiss accepted the invite and read the message that told her to meet Crescent at the Grand Plaza, the same one where they first met.

Weiss took her time to walk to the Grand Plaza of Vytal City. It was as crowded as ever, banners hung from the buildings reminding people of the upcoming Halloween event starting next month. Weiss however never really celebrated holidays, her family only 'celebrated' Christmas as an excuse to throw formal parties with friends of the family and business partners of her father's company, the Schnee Dynamo Corporation. The company produced electricity for many cities and had several contracts with the military to design the electrical components for many of its weapons and equipment. Once Weiss made it to the grand Plaza, she quickly noticed how crowded it was. She couldn't see Crescent anywhere, so she waited by the large marble fountain in hopes that Crescent would think to find her there.

A few minutes pass as she stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, completely unaware of the danger she was about to face. "Crescent Glomp!" a loud shout filled her ears as she was tackled to the ground by a girl in a red cape who wrapped Weiss in a bear hug. Weiss shrieked as she and her assailant flew and landed ten feet from where she was just standing. "Crescent, what do you think you're doing?!" Weiss cried out, trying to squirm her way out of Crescents bear hug. Crescent had her in a vice grip as she nestled her head in Weiss shoulder. "Sorry Myrtenaster, but I always wanted to do that!" Crescent Chirped, satisfied with her successful attack on the blue haired mage. Weiss immediately felt the stares of onlookers that filled the Grand Plaza, causing her to blush. _'I swear, this girl makes me blush on purpose just to tease me!'_ Weiss finally got her left arm free and tried to push Crescent off of her, failing miserably. "C-Crescent, please. P-People are starting to stare." Weiss pleaded, she was never this close to Crescent before and the black short hair of Crescent was brushing against her neck as she brushed her face against Weiss. "Nope, we barely saw each other all week and I had a bad day today and want to blow off some steam." Crescent stated in a cheery voice which quickly turned to a much annoyed one once she stated she had a bad day. A few more seconds of crushing Weiss's ribs, Crescent finally released Weiss. As both girls stood up, a loud and boisterous voice filled the plaza.

"Hey, why don't I get any bear hugs!" a girl with short pink hair shouted, faking a surprised face. The girl wore pink plate armor over her torso and arms with a black tunic underneath, completed with a short pink skirt and knee high boots that had metal plates to protect her shins. She also Wielded a large warhammer that had a pink heart-shaped gem on the head of the warhammer.

"Sorry Boop, but Myrtenaster got here first." Crescent chirped as she led Weiss over to the energetic Pink haired girl. Boop Flowerpower wasn't always online due to having college courses and a part time Job, so Weiss doesn't know her too well. Most of the time Boop was online on Saturdays at the same time as Ren. "I take it Ren is at work as usual?" Crescent asked

"Yep, looks like it's just us girls today!" Boop cheered, wrapping her arms around Weiss' and Crescent's shoulders. "nice to see you again Myrtenaster, it's rare to see you online so early"

"nice to see you to, Boop." Weiss removed Boop's arm from her shoulder. "So Crescent, I take it you invited Me and Boop in a party to 'blow off some steam'?" Weiss asked, quoting Crescent's earlier statement.

"yep, had a bad day at school and I just really want to slay some goblins." Crescent spoke with an out of place annoyed voice.

Weiss didn't think much of the uncharacteristic tone that Crescent used. "speaking of school, looks like I won't be able to come online on weekdays anymore, Sorry Crescent." Weiss didn't want to break the bad news on her cute sword wielding friend and expected to be pulled into a bear hug again. But Crescent's reaction was unexpected.

"Don't worry, looks like neglecting my homework has come to bite me in the ass. I won't be online on the weekdays either anymore…." Crescent grumbled, it was rare to see her in a bad mood, let alone hear her swear. "So, are you girls ready to raid a dungeon filled with goblins?!" Crescent Cheered with a fist in the air and her cape fluttering in the breeze.

Weiss was a bit taken aback by Crescent's complete 180 in character. "R-Right, as long as there are no slimes, I'm in." Weiss reluctantly decided to just go with the flow for now and try to cheer up Crescent. Boop simply cheered with Crescent. "Count me in, Little Red!"

With Crescent leading the way, the 3 girls walked out of the City and made their way to a large forest named Forever Fall. This Forest looked as if a god merely painted all plant life in the forest various shades of red, even the grass that covered the forest floor was a deep red. The trees' trunks and roots remained a natural brown though. As the girls walked along a cobblestone path, they made idle chit-chat with Boop being the first to speak.

Boop walked beside Weiss with her hands behind her head. "Hey Myrtenaster, how has your week been? I barely get to see ya since school started." Boop asked.

However, Weiss appeared to be distracted by Crescent who was walking ahead of them but was snapped out of her thoughts thanks to the pink haired warrior. "huh? O-Oh, s-sorry. I, um, got lost in my own thoughts." Weiss internally cursed herself for being distracted by Crescent's swaying hips. "W-What were you saying, Boop?" Weiss tried her hardest not to blush, failing miserably.

Boop just laughed at Weiss' flustered face and wrapped her arm around the blue haired girl's shoulders and began to tease her with a knowing look. "forget what I was saying, looks like whatever kind of thoughts you were having certainly made you as red as a tomato, Myrtenaster. Almost like you were daydreaming about a certain someone." Boop whispered, giving a quick glance towards Crescent, signaling to Weiss that she knows what Weiss was staring at.

Weiss went wide eyed at the Pink haired girl's accusation, her whole face turning Crimson with a searing heat that rivaled the sun. "W-W-What!? How do yo-" she was interrupted by Boop answering her question before she could even ask it.

"been there, done that. Plus, you look exactly like me when I ever I catch myself thinking of Ren." Boop quickly removed her arm from Myrtenaster's personal space. "Hey Crescent, how much farther from this Dungeon? My Magnhild is itching to break some legs."

Crescent looked over her shoulder to answer. "almost there, should be just around the corner." Sure enough, it was quite literally just around the corner in the bend of the road they walked on. As the girls entered the Dungeon, they experienced a cold chill. The dungeon looked ancient with stone pillars holding up the high ceiling that disappeared in the darkness above. The floor was cluttered with the occasional human skeleton and rusty weapons. Bright torches lined the stone walls, revealing moss and vines growing out from between the stone bricks. A few seconds after they enter, Goblins begin to spawn. The Goblins were about two feet tall, wore loincloths and carried clubs and spears. "I love this Dungeon, it's nothing but hordes of goblins with no boss to worry about! You ready to kick some ugly goblin ass, Myrtenaster?" Crescent once again swore as she pullout out her giant sword from underneath her crimson cape. Weiss was starting to get concerned about Crescent since she has never heard the girl swear once for the whole month she knew her and now she had done it twice within a fifteen minute time span? Something was up with Crescent and Weiss decided to ask about it later, after they slay the oncoming goblin hoard. "Ready as I'll ever be, Crescent." Weiss Declared as she readied her staff.

"It's about time! Magnhild can finally break some bones!" Boop Roared with excitement in her voice as she readied her warhammer with a twirl.

Crescent was the first to jump into the fray, charging into a group of goblins at incredible speeds "Myrtenaster, you watch my back!" Crescent Commanded as she swung her sword across her front, killing five goblins in one sweep. "Boop, you make sure none of the goblins get near Myrtenaster." While Crescent was jumping and dashing from mob to mob, Weiss summoned a blue magic circle that floated just to her left and began firing ice shards at any stray goblins that dared to ambush Crescent. The goblins were easy to kill, dying in just one hit from any of the girls' attacks. Weiss was always amazed at how fast Crescent could move despite being a Warrior, let alone wielding such a large sword.

"Hey Boop, Crescent certainly is fast for a Warrior Role. Aren't Warriors usually tanks or something?" Weiss hollered towards Boop, never stopping her barrage of ice shards that skewered goblins to the stone walls and pillars.

Boop swung her warhammer with ease, smashing and bashing away any stray goblins in a vicinity around Weiss. "Well yeah, Warriors usually focus on strength and endurance only" Boop said as she crushed a goblins legs at the knees. "but she was quite adamant on maxing out her agility stat despite warriors never really using it." A stray goblin attempted to lunged at Myrtenaster, but Boop was quick to react, sending it flying into a pillar with the force of a wrecking ball. "Her excuse was that she REALLY likes running."

Weiss just rolled her eyes as she watched Crescent leap in between pillars, killing goblins left and right as she flew past them. "that sounds like our Crescent alright, always so full of energy."

"you know I can hear you two!" Ruby hollered at her gossiping guildmates.

"we know!" the pink and blue haired girls shouted in unison.

The goblins were relentless but were easily dispatched, a little too easily for Crescent. "Don't take this the wrong way, Myrtenaster, but this dungeon was a lot more fun when we didn't have a mage…" Crescent deadpanned, twirling her sword around her fingers as the three girls walked through the gate of Vytal City. "though, last time I was there, I was like five to ten levels lower, so that's maybe the reason why it's no fun anymore."

"None taken, Crescent. If it makes you feel any better, I found it to be too easy myself." Weiss was only disappointed that Crescent's mood didn't seem that much better than before.

Boop chimed in. "well, I still had some fun! I'm gonna go over to the Grand Plaza to sell all this loot, be back in a minute." Boop began running in the direction of the Grand Plaza, leaving Weiss and Crescent alone in the city streets. Weiss took this opportunity to talk to Crescent about her sour mood. "So….Crescent, do you want to talk abo-" Crescent quickly cut her off. "No…I won't talk about it…" Crescent stated, still twirling her sword with a bored expression on her face. Weiss felt hurt at the Crimsonette's words, so quick to block off any help. "Crescent, I'm only trying to help. I know you don't like talking about your life outside the game…but you can always rely on me." Weiss pleaded, refusing to give up on her friend. Crescent however only stopped in her tracks as she finally stopped twirling her giant sword.

"well, what if I don't want to rely on people…" Crescent became quiet, almost sounding depressed which gave Weiss a strange sense of Déjà Vu. Weiss was about to open her mouth to respond but was cut off by Crescent again. "and I thought you of all people would understand why I don't talk about life outside the game…" Weiss had no response; she wasn't expecting the crimsonette to be so sullen about this whole thing. Weiss began to look at her own feet.

"I…I'm sorry Crescent, I didn't mean to pry into your personal life." Weiss didn't want to ruin her new friendship with Crescent after only knowing her for a month, she was her only friend other than Pyrrha.

Crescent took a deep breath and sheathed her sword. "no, I should be apologizing….I shouldn't have let my problems in the real world get in the way of us having a good time." Crescent said. Just then, Boop came back from selling her loot with Pyrrha in tow.

"look who finally came online!" Boop hollered.

Weiss saw Crescent grow a devilish smile at the sight of Boop. The last time Weiss saw that smile, Crescent thought it was a good idea to lead Weiss into a dungeon full of hundreds of slime monsters without telling her. Weiss still gets shivers every time she remembers that horrible dungeon.

"Hey Boop, I just thought of an idea." Crescent chirped as she looked at Boop with a confident smile. "I challenge you to a duel, whoever loses has to wear whatever costume the winner tells them to wear for the Halloween event next month. All. Month. Long."

Boop simply grew her own smug smile. "Oh you are so going down, little red! I already got the perfect costume in mind for you."

Pyrrha stood by Weiss who was in the process of facepalming. "Well, this should be entertaining." Pyrrha said with a nervous smile

"At least Crescent doesn't seem to be in a bad mood anymore." Weiss admitted

The four girls made their way to the Arena, modeled after the Roman Coliseum. Pyrrha and Weiss sat in the empty stands, ready to watch Crescent and Boop fight in the center of the arena. As the two girls below fought for the other's humiliation, Weiss and Pyrrha made small talk. "I've been wondering, why does everyone in the guild use your real name? isn't that kind of weird?" Weiss asked, wincing as she watched Boop's hammer sends Crescent flying into the wall on the other side of the Arena, it looked extremely painful despite not being able to feel pain in game.

"oh, well, long story short everyone got tired of calling me TheInvincibleGirl." Pyrrha smiled as she remembered the event. "they claimed it felt weird calling me by what sounds like a title, so I just told them to use my real name." Weiss simply nodded, that sounded like something Pyrrha would do. "but now enough about me, I heard you'll be tutoring Ruby from my English class."

"mhmm." Weiss hummed in response, barely registering what Pyrrha had just said. "wait, what? How did you know I was-" Pyrrha decided to cut her off to answer the question before Weiss could even finish. Weiss was starting to get annoyed at how often this was happening today.

"I may have been the one who suggested you for tutoring her, sorry." Pyrrha played with her ponytail as she spoke. Just before Weiss could ask more questions, Pyrrha was already answering them. "I have Ruby in my English class; we sit at the same table and she is always either sleeping in class or doodling in her notebooks. Sadly though, she seems to always be nervous when I talk to her, almost as if she really, REALLY wanted to avoid me…" Pyrrha's face had a mix of disappointment and confusion as she remembered the few times she tried to befriend her mysterious classmate.

"huh…so I take it that you know just as much about her as I do, then?" Weiss asked, never taking her eyes off the duel below them, Crescent was putting up a good fight against Boop, but Boop was quite a few more levels higher than Crescent, which was just enough to have the upper hand against her.

Pyrrha shook her head. "nope." Weiss was disappointed, if she could just learn a few things about this Ruby girl, maybe it would be easier to tutor her. But Weiss knew that Ruby's reclusive and stubborn personality is going to make things difficult. However, an idea popped into her head. Maybe she could…"Pyrrha, your English class is before lunch, correct?" Weiss diverted her attention away from the duel below and looked at Pyrrha who simply nodded.

"that's correct. Why do you ask?" Pyrrha had a look of confusion at what she assumed was a random question.

"you're going to invite her to eat with us at lunch on Monday." Weiss stated it as if he had been an order rather than a request.

Before Pyrrha could respond, Crescent came flying into the stands in a blur of black and red and crash landed right between Weiss and Pyrrha, followed by the in-game announcer's loud and dramatic voice. "Crescent defeated! Boop wins!" Weiss and Pyrrha didn't even have time to process what just happened before Crescent quickly shot up, raising her giant sword at Boop. "I call a rematch!" Weiss only giggled at the unsatisfied sword wielder. Over the month of knowing the girl, one of the first things Weiss learned was that Crescent was a bit of a sore loser when it came to competition.

"No can do Little Red! We agreed that it would be winner take all, no take backs!" Boop yelled from below in the stadium. "and now you gotta wear whatever I tell you to wear during the Halloween event! No buts!"

Crescent sighed in defeat as she sheathed her sword and proceeded to collapse on her butt between Weiss and Pyrrha. "stupid bet…" Crescent grumbled to herself as she crossed her arms in a pout, earning a weird look from Weiss while also giving Weiss another sense of déjà vu.

'_why do I keep feeling like I've seen this before…yet I can't remember any time I've seen Crescent this troubled.'_ Weiss' thoughts were cut short by a uncomfortable sounding Crescent. "M-Myrtenaster, you can stop the weird staring now. Kinda weirding me out."

Weiss quickly drew her eyes away from Crescent. "S-Sorry, I was deep in thought." Crescent visibly became more comfortable in response while Weiss resorted to using her peripheral vision to continue looking at the crimsonette. _'since when did she get so easily uncomfortable around people? Maybe I was staring at her weirdly, yeah that's it!...right?'_

"So what were two talking about up here during my duel with Crescent?" Boop chimed in after making her way to the rest of the girls. "I noticed you two barely paid attention to our little fight."

"Not much, just talking about our school life. Myrtenaster will be tutoring someone, which will prevent her coming online during the weekdays now." Pyrrha stated nonchalantly, but Weiss was uncomfortable with how much of her personal life Pyrrha was revealing.

Boop sat next to Weiss, completely blocking her in between Boop and Crescent. "So that's why you're gonna be so busy!" Boop was as loud as ever, Weiss thought. "you must be quite the smart cookie, Myrtenaster!"

"W-Well, I may or may not get straight A's in all my courses…" Weiss struggled inside to decide how much she should say. "it's no big deal though, most of our fun happens on the weekends anyway." In the corner of Weiss' eye, she saw Crescent slowly stand up.

"I'm gonna go ahead and log off, it's getting late and I need to start getting more sleep anyway." Crescent was once against sounding quite out of character with her quiet voice, Weiss felt like she was looking at a kicked puppy. "anyways, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Crescent logged off the second she finished her sentence.

Boop looked at Pyrrha with concern written all over her face. "do you think she's doing ok? Crescent has been acting kind of weird ever since the school year started, I can't help but feel worried for the little girl." Little? How old is Crescent? Weiss never really thought about the Crimsonette's age.

"what do you mean by little?" Weiss began asking before she even realized she started.

Boop quickly waved her hands in front of her. "did I say little? I meant younger since I, um, I'm older, you know? I said it out of habit, hahaha" Boop was clearly hiding something, Weiss could tell that much. However, Pyrrha chimed in before Weiss could question the pinked haired brute.

"Right, well…I'm sure she is fine, probably just a bit disappointed that she isn't going to be able to see us all that much anymore." Weiss simply nodded at that, maybe she was just over thinking things.

Boop summon the menu interface and went wide eyed. "well look at the time, Ren should be off work by now. I'm gonna log off and treat my man with my signature pancakes! See you guys later!" with that, Boop logged off as well, not even bothering to hear her friends say goodbye. Now only Pyrrha and Weiss remained in the coliseum. Weiss was about to speak up, but Pyrrha beat her to the punch. Again.

"So, back to our earlier conversation…you want me to invite Ruby to lunch?" Pyrrha asked. "I mean, I can try but the girl isn't exactly the easiest person to talk to."

Weiss simply nodded, she need to talk to this mysterious girl before the tutoring session so she could help tutor her better. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to practice what Pyrrha has been helping her with over the last year. "I need to talk to her about our study plan and I have no classes with her, leaving me to rely on you as a liaison between me and Ruby."

"alright Weiss, you can leave it to me." Pyrrha gave off her signature confident smile and aura as she spoke. Weiss was glad to have such a reliable friend. "anyways, Boop and Crescent may have the right idea. It is getting pretty late."

Weiss summoned the menu interface to check the time, it was already 9:23pm. She missed dinner with her family, but she doesn't care. Weiss never enjoyed eating with them anyways. "Agreed, I haven't eaten anything since lunch today. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"right, I should be free all weekend this time. The track team doesn't have any events for the next couple of weeks." Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief as she spoke, her track team has been busy with try outs and scheduling events along with practice, typical first month of school routine. The girls gave their farewells and logged off at the same time. Weiss was brought back to her room in the real world and quickly changed into her white nightgown and left her room to find the kitchen for a quick meal before going to bed. The mansion was quiet with only dim lights to fight off the darkness. As Weiss walked the large hallways, she couldn't help but think about how Crescent was acting today. However, her thoughts didn't lead anywhere as she barely had any concrete information to work with. Once she made it to the kitchen she found her brother Whitley making himself a sandwich in his ice blue pajamas. "Whitley? What are you doing here?"

Whitely didn't take his eyes off his task of spreading jelly over a slice of bread. "last I checked, I live in this home too, sister." Weiss was about to respond but once again, she was beaten to the punch. She was starting to really get pissed by that. "you missed dinner. Father wasn't too happy about that." Weiss grimaced at the thought of her father being…unhappy.

"yeah well, I do have my own life and besides, I had plenty to eat at school." Weiss said as she grabbed her own slices of bread to make her own sandwiches, standing to the right of her brother. The two siblings finished making their sandwiches in silence. Whitely and Weiss weren't exactly the friendliest of Siblings but didn't hate each other either. They simply didn't spend much time together as a family, something that the whole family seems to agree on not doing. Finally, Whitely completed his fourth peanut butter and jelly sandwich and made his way to the door, stopping just before leaving the room.

"You know Weiss, this past month you've been locking yourself in your room after school nearly every day…sooner or later, father is going to confront you on that. Just thought I'd warn you." Whitely left before Weiss could even respond. Weiss was finally alone in the kitchen, just what she wanted in her already lonely home. After Weiss made her own PBJ, she ate in peace at the dining room table. Once she was feeling full, she put the dishes away and made her way back to her room, thinking of how to explain to her father that she will be coming home late starting Monday. "Guess I'll just be blunt about it when I talk to him tomorrow..." before she even realized it, she was in her room already under the blankets of her bed and quickly fell asleep.


	4. A Lonely Little Rose Still Has Thorns

Ruby is definitely not a morning person and today was no different. As she stared at the ceiling, a loud constant beeping filled her ears. The bane of every teenager's existence. The 6.00 A.M. alarm. Ruby's body apparently decided to wake her up a whole hour early before the alarm and refused to let her go back to sleep. After listening to the alarm for a good twenty seconds, Ruby turned the alarm off. With a loud groan, she slowly sat up in her bed, looking around the room for any sign of her wheelchair. As she scanned the room, she was reminded of how much she missed her old bedroom on the second floor; her dad and uncle had converted the garage into a new bedroom in which she now resided in. despite formerly being a garage though, her bedroom was actually very clean and looked like any other bedroom, even the garage door was removed and replaced with an actual wall. Ruby assumed the conversion had cost a fortune of course and that only made her feel worse. On the bright side, she got her own bathroom specially designed for her needs, no more sharing a bathroom with her sister who tended to hog the bathroom upstairs to groom her golden hair.

Finally, Ruby spotted her wheelchair, sitting exactly where it always is every morning on the right side of her bed. Ruby stubbornly refused to use a motorized wheelchair whenever her father or a doctor told her about better options for her. She would always respond by claiming that she needed to spend all her pent up energy somehow now that she couldn't run around and play like she used to.

Ruby pulled away the covers, revealing her pale legs. Ruby grimaced at the sight _'well, glad to see that you're still as useless as ever...'_ Ruby cursed herself for willingly staring at her scars first thing in the morning. Letting out a groan, Ruby reluctantly started her morning ritual of literally dragging her sorry butt out of bed and into her wheelchair. As soon as she sat down in the chair, a soft knock on her door filled the room. Ruby rolled over to the door and unlocked it, letting her sister inside her room.

"Hey Rubes, time to get up and go to school, dad is mak-" her sister was a bit startled by Ruby's state of dress. "W-Why aren't you wearing your favorite pajama bottoms?" The blonde hesitantly asked, raising one of her eyebrows. "And since when did you start sleeping in your underwear?"

"Since it became a pain in the butt to put pants on, Yang." Ruby grumbled, not wasting any time on her sister and was already in her private bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

Yang walked up to the bathroom door. "Right... Well, dad is already making breakfast. You better hurry before I steal one of your favorite pancakes~". Yang sang as she left the bedroom, Ruby was already turning the water on in the bath by the time Yang left. The bath part of her morning ritual was the only part that put her mind at ease, she simply refused to let anything ruin a good bubble bath. As the water filled the tub, she looked herself over in the mirror. Her long jet-black hair was an absolute mess as loose strands defied gravity. _'_"Should I let it grow a little more, maybe let it go down to my waist?" Ruby pondered to herself while messing with bits of her hair, it was already reaching the bottom of her shoulder blades in the back with her bangs framing her face in such a way that she could easily hide behind her hair if she ever needed to. "Maybe I could dye the ends red like Crescent..." Ruby decided to think on it later and turned her focus on the bubble bath that she desperately needed.

After a quick bath, Ruby changed into her favorite red hoodie and black sweatpants that hid her surprisingly toned body. In fact, she looked a bit bigger than she really was in the outfit. The hoodie always made Ruby feel protected and loved how her fingers poked out of the long sleeves. As Ruby finished getting dressed, she noticed her favorite red, sleeveless sundress hanging in the closet. Ruby hasn't worn the dress for the past two years. "Maybe someday I'll have an excuse to wear you again...that is if you still fit, pretty sure I grew in more ways than one since I was twelve."

Just as she picked up her backpack and rolled up to her bedroom door, she stared at the lock for a moment. She didn't want to lock her sister out of her room, but she had no choice. During the first month of losing the use of her legs, it took Ruby a couple of weeks and a few awkward moments of her sister and dad walking in on her struggling to change clothes in somewhat compromising positions just to finally convince her family that they had to knock and wait for her to open the door. While her dad quickly fell into the new habit of knocking first, Yang simply refused to adhere to Ruby's desire for privacy. Somehow Ruby managed to convince her dad to put a lock on her bedroom door after Yang walked in on Ruby when she was in the middle of a certain...personal activity. Ruby's face turned crimson at the memory, thank god she was under her blankets or else she would have probably died from embarrassment and shame. Her dad only agreed to the lock on the condition that it remained unlocked at night when she was sleeping. Ruby quickly realized she was probably staring at the lock a bit too long and decided to finally leave her room, breakfast was waiting for her and it certainly wasn't going to eat itself.

"Hey! good morning sweetie, I made your favorite breakfast." Tai was as happy ever, Ruby is always glad he treated her like nothing happened, even if he did seem a bit too protective.

"mmm, chocolate chip pancakes and strawberries." Ruby could smell the heavenly breakfast as she approached the dining room table.

"Don't forget, you have that tutoring session after school, Yang will pick you up when you're done and not a second sooner." As taiyang set Ruby's breakfast on the dining room table, he ruffled up her hair like he always does.

"Yeah, Yeah...it's not like I have a choice in the matter." Ruby muttered as she parked her wheelchair at the table where a certain wooden chair is forever missing.

"Alright, I'll be out working on the flower garden if you girls need me." Tai stated as he walked out the front door.

Yang sat across from Ruby with a plate full of sausage and eggs. She was wearing a brown leather jacket with a yellow tank-top underneath. Blue skinny jeans hugged her toned legs. "So, Rubes, you gonna finally show off your brains to the older kids?" Yang said, trying to tease her sister.

"I'm not gonna be showing off, Yang. Besides, It's not like I'm a genius." Ruby grumbled as she stuffed her mouth full of chocolate pancake goodness. she stopped enjoying the praise and attention she got just because of her intelligence, it only brought attention and too much attention had a habit of bringing her anxiety. "also, they aren't that much older, my birthday is in like four weeks."

Yang perked up at the mention of her baby sister's birthday "Oh! that reminds me, is there anything you want for your birthday? I'll get you anything you want, no questions asked" Yang's smile was so bright that it could rival the sun.

Ruby swallowed her food before responding, her face as apathetic as always. "not really, a chocolate cake with strawberries is enough." Ruby stated nonchalantly, restuffing her mouth full of pancakes. Yang felt a bit defeated hearing her baby sister's answer. It's the same answer she got for Ruby's last two birthdays. "Oh...well, if you think of anything, tell me." Ruby simply hummed in response.

After the sisters finished breakfast, Ruby was just about to make her way towards the front door, but Yang placed her hands on the handles that protruded from the back of Ruby's Wheelchair. Grimacing, Ruby immediately felt Yang's presence behind her. "Yang... I can get to the truck myself." Ruby grumbled, trying not to sound too angry with her sister's actions.

"Oh, sorry…just acting on my sister instincts, ya know?" Yang stammered and quickly let go of Ruby's chair. Ruby sighed as she immediately rolled through the doorway and made her way down the ramp that branched off their patio and led to the driveway where Yang's Yellow pickup truck was sitting. Rolling up to the passenger side door, she stopped and waited for Yang. However, Yang decided to stop by the flower garden to talk to her father before leaving. "Hey Dad, is it ok if Blake comes over after school? We haven't been able to see each other all summer." Yang pleaded.

Tai was in the middle of watering his sunflowers, staying silent while thinking on whether or not to accept his daughter's request. Yang watched with pleading eyes. "alright, alright. Just make sure you two aren't smooching on the couch when I return from work tonight. I don't want to ruin your fun again." Teasing his daughter, Tai got up and made his way over to the roses that sat next to the sunflowers, giving the roses just as much care as he did with the sunflowers.

"Dad!" Yang whined, crossing her arms. "I thought we agreed to never mention that ever again."

Tai laughed at Yang's embarrassment. He pointed over towards Ruby. "alright, Now go on, I think you've kept your sister waiting long enough."

Yang said her goodbye and ran over to the truck. As soon as Yang started running for the truck, Ruby opened the door and pulled herself into the passenger seat with incredible ease. Once Ruby was secure in the passenger seat, Yang quickly folded the wheelchair and put it in the back of the truck. Yang hopped into the driver's seat and wasted no time as she shoved the key into the ignition and stepped on the gas, it was only a split second before they were already leaving their little home.

Ruby always thought yang seemed at her happiest when she was driving, always going a couple of miles over the speed limit too. Ruby felt kind of guilty that Yang didn't get the motorcycle she always dreamed of having, her father getting her a truck on the idea that Yang needed to be able to take Ruby places whenever their father couldn't. The sisters didn't live too far from the school so before Ruby knew it they had arrived at Vale Academy. Yang found a parking spot close to the entrance that had just enough room for Ruby to get out with her wheelchair. Yang was first to leave the truck. She walked around the back, grabbing and unfolding Ruby's wheelchair. Ruby watched in the side view mirror, once she saw Yang waiting with the chair ready, Ruby got out and made her way down to the chair just as easily as she had gotten out of it. Just as she got out of the truck, Ruby quickly noticed a few students passing by who were looking at her and her sister. _'Stop staring damn it…I've been doing this routine for a month now, you'd think they would get bored of staring by now...'_

Yang was just about to try another attempt to push Ruby's wheelchair. However, Ruby didn't waste any time and as soon she was seated, she was propelling herself at top speed towards the entrance. "Sorry Yang, I want to get to class early, love you!" Ruby yelled as she rolled off. Yang watched her sister, only able to see the back of Ruby's head.

"Well, at least she won't be locked away in her room anymore, now that she has tutoring to do..." Yang deadpanned while waiting until Ruby disappeared into the entrance before entering the school herself.

As Ruby rolled down the hall, she tried to ignore the occasional stares she got from the students. Ignoring the stares as best she could, she finally made it to her first class of the day, English. As she rolled into the classroom, she immediately went to her desk and just before class was about to start, the one student Ruby hoped wouldn't come to school finally showed up. The overly friendly redhead with a heart of gold.

"Hey, Ruby." Pyrrha greeted Ruby with her angelic voice as she placed her bag on the back of her chair and sat next to Ruby.

_'And here I was thinking she wouldn't be here today...looks like it's gonna be another uncomfortable hour of trying to hide myself...wait, isn't that what I do every hour I'm at school anyway?'_ Just as Ruby was about to start a debate with herself, Pyrrha began speaking to Flynt and Neon.

_'God, of all the people in the world to be my classmate, it just has to be my guildmaster, Pyrrha...last thing I wanted was for any of my friends to see me like this…what the hell are the odds of her being in the same city, let alone the same school?!.'_ Ruby rested her chin in her palm as she took out her notebook and began to draw, ignoring everything around her for the next hour. Ruby didn't really pay much attention to what she drew most of the time, she merely did it to pass time and be alone in her thoughts. She was completely oblivious to Pyrrha's occasional curious glance at her drawing.

Long after the class had started, Ruby suddenly realized what she was drawing. Apparently, she drew a messy sketch of Little Red Riding Hood carrying a sword that was a tad too big and was facing away from the viewer, staring up at a large wolf. This was the 10th time this month she had drawn the sketch that was inspired by Crescent. Ruby groaned quietly to herself as she was about to rip it out of the notebook. That is, until Pyrrha spoke up. "That's a great drawing, you really shouldn't throw it away."

Ruby froze on the spot just seconds before ripping the page from her notebook, she even nearly forgot to breath. _'Crap, please don't think it looks like Crescent.'_ After a few seconds of Ruby internally panicking, Pyrrha continued. "It kind of reminds me of a friend of mine."

Ruby began fidgeting with her pencil in a nervous fit. Of course it reminded Pyrrha of a certain friend, because it was for crying out loud. "A f-friend?" she meekly choked out the words as her thoughts were engulfed by fear.

"Yep, I've always seen her with a red hood and cloak just like the girl in your drawing." Pyrrha chirped as she smiled at Ruby. Ruby's heart pounded against her chest and her hands became clammy. _'It's ok, there's no way she'll figure it out...I'm nothing like Crescent...except for maybe my voice ...oh yeah, and the body proportions are the same in game as they are in real life...Oh my god she is so gonna figure it out for sure!'_ Luckily for Ruby, Pyrrha quickly brought her out of her panic attack before it could even start.

"By the way, would you like to eat lunch with me and my friend? I think she'd love to meet you, I assure you she's really nice." That is if you could get past her cold walls first...Pyrrha really hoped Weiss made progress on her socializing skills from playing with her new online friends.

Ruby really didn't want to speak, she didn't want to risk revealing herself. But she couldn't ignore her, not the super friendly Pyrrha that had a pure heart of gold. " um…I...I, um…" Suddenly, the bell rang and Ruby immediately shoved her notebook and pencil into her bag in a flash and bolted for the door as fast as she could. Sadly However, she wasn't as fast as she wanted to be as her anxiety finally caught up to her. _'Why are you leaving? She's already your friend, just accept the offer for fuck's sake… God, you look like a scared puppy running away like that…Crescent would have jumped for joy upon meeting a new friend, especially one of Pyrrha's friends… but no. you rather roll away with your tail between your useless legs...'_ Ruby suddenly halted just before reaching the door, her arms shook as her hands held onto the wheels with an iron grip, fighting against the urge to run away. Her heart pounded in her chest a million times a minute and felt nauseous. Maybe, just maybe she could be friends with Pyrrha and not let her know her secret? That could work right? She would be taking such a big risk, though...

Slowly, Ruby turned her head to peek at Pyrrha over her shoulder and saw that Pyrrha looked defeated with her head hung low as she collected her school supplies. _'God I'm such an ass…'_ Ruby took a deep breath, but that sadly didn't stop her arms from shaking. _'Come on, you're gonna look like an jerk if you leave like this…you're lucky you and Pyrrha are all alone now since all the other students were faster than you, because, well...you know, they actually have useful legs.'_ Ruby shook her head to fight off the horrible thoughts that plagued her and took another deep breath. Hesitantly, Ruby ever so slowly turned her chair around and just as slowly, she rolled up to Pyrrha who quickly noticed Ruby's return, a glimmer of hope was written all over the redhead's face.

Once ruby stopped in front of Pyrrha, she slowly fidgeted with her long hair as she tried to find the strength to speak. Ruby really hoped Pyrrha couldn't see how red her cheeks were and how sweaty her palms had gotten. Pyrrha simply watched the flustered girl with patient eyes and a soft smile, an expression all too familiar to Ruby. After a few seconds, Ruby finally spoke, her voice sounded terribly meek to Pyrrha

"I...I'd like to...um, to join you for lunch..w-with your friend." Ruby barely got the words out as she tried her best to hide her face with her hair. Pyrrha giggled before standing up and gave the younger girl a big smile, even if Ruby couldn't see it through her long black hair that she was using to hide herself. Pyrrha would have considered it adorable if she hadn't noticed how much of a struggle it took for Ruby to talk to her. Pyrrha wasn't oblivious of course, unlike a certain blonde she knew.

"Thats grand! I look forward to seeing you at lunch, I promise we'll have lots of fun." Pyrrha assured Ruby with her ever so sweet voice. Ruby simply nodded in such a way that made Pyrrha instantly think of a cute puppy. As Ruby let her hair fall from her face, she turned around and roll out of the classroom as fast as her strong but trembling arms could allow her. Leaving the classroom in a matter of seconds. "Okgottagobye!" and with that, Ruby was out of sight from Pyrrha.

Ruby's quick and rapid goodbye was eerily familiar to Pyrrha but she couldn't quite figure out why. _'Now that I think about it, her voice did sound a bit familiar...but yet it feels like it's missing something…a certain emotion? Energy? maybe a certain personality trait?'_ Unable to find the answer, Pyrrha decided to put that thought on hold and focus on going to class. "Well, that went surprisingly better than I thought it would. Now I just hope Weiss and Ruby get along." Pyrrha said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed to her next class.

After English, Ruby had history with Dr. Oobleck for second period. After that, third Period was math which was just as uneventful and insufferable as World History. Finally, Ruby could go to lunch. The Cafeteria was rather large compared to Ruby's previous schools, filled with many long wooden tables and an extremely high ceiling supported by marble pillars. Students were everywhere and the line was a tad long, testing the patience of Ruby's suffering stomach. She chose to grab two hamburgers, a rather large pile of mashed potatoes and five chocolate chip cookies, causing the lunch ladies to give weird looks at the large portions of her meal.

Carrying her tray on her lap, Ruby propelled herself between the crowded tables. Ruby already felt like she was suffocating in the sea of people. After a few minutes of searching for a place to eat, she spotted Yang sitting with her girlfriend Blake. Yang's warm lilac eyes met with Ruby's piercing silver and waved her baby sister over. However, Ruby rolled on by. She didn't want to be pandered by her sister. Besides, Yang had Blake to keep her company, Yang didn't need her being a third wheel.

Failing to find an empty and isolated table, Ruby begrudgingly pulls up to one of the wide walls of the cafeteria, making sure to be within line of sight with Yang to satisfy her older sister's motherly tendencies. _'this cafeteria is just too crowded…there isn't a single place to park myself at any stupid table without being in someone's way or blocking up a path between the tables…maybe I should eat outside like a usually do and forget about eating with Pyrrha…but then Pyrrha and her friend would probably be mad at me for ditching them...damn it, why did I agree to eat with her?! All I had to do was say no...but then I would have been an big, stupid jerk...'_ Ruby continued to rant to herself internally as she ate one of her two hamburgers in silence. However, Ruby's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Pyrrha who easily found Ruby, being the only girl in the crowded cafeteria in a wheelchair.

"There you are, Ruby." Pyrrha chirped, holding her tray of food to her chest. "ready to go?" Ruby gave the towering redhead a meek nod as she put the hamburger back on her tray and followed Pyrrha. Ruby of course, promptly returned to panicking… 'Oh god, what have I gotten myself into…'

Yang watched Ruby ignore her and isolate herself, feeling a sharp sting in her heart. "See, Blake? It's been like this all summer too, she practically locked herself in her room for the entire summer break and it has barely changed since school started" Yang groaned in distress as she slumped over her food.

Blake was appalled upon seeing the depressing sight that was Yang's sister. Blake rarely saw Ruby when she visited the Xiao Long/Rose household, so she barely knew what the younger girl was like. "Damn, I know she's a bit distant with you But I didn't think she would actively avoid you like that."

Stabbing her peas with her fork, yang confessed to Blake "I don't know what I'm going to do with her. Whenever I even attempt to help her, she pushes me away before I could even do anything. Hell, whenever me or dad try to get her out of her room, there's almost always silence from her. Almost like she isn't even there…dad is seriously considering removing the lock on Ruby's door because of her self isolation." Yang occasionally glanced towards Ruby as she ate with Blake. Seeing her baby sister alone was a painful sight. All she wanted was to see Ruby back to her energetic and happy self. "whenever she comes out, she always says she was sleeping or some other convenient excuse…I know she's lying, but dad always says to let Ruby have her space and that she'll open up when she's ready…but I don't want to wait, damn it!" Yang banged her fist on the table, causing Blake to jump a little at the sight of an angry Yang.

For the past year that she had been dating Yang, Blake saw Ruby only a handful of times and spoke to her about half as many times which only consisted of lazy greetings on Ruby's part. What she did know of Ruby though, was from the stories Yang told about her little sister when she was younger. Blake hated seeing Yang look so helpless. Blake placed her hand over Yang's "I'm sure Ruby still loves you Yang, even if she does avoid you. I'm sure Ruby has her reasons."

"maybe you're right... I should just be patient." Yang sighed in defeat. She was lucky to have Blake by her side. Suddenly, behind Blake, Yang saw a peculiar event unfold. "What is Pyrrha Nikos doing with my sister?" Yang asked in utter confusion as Blake turned her head around to see what her girlfriend was staring at.

'Where is Pyrrha, it's not like her to be late' Weiss thought to herself as she ate her mashed Potatoes. Feeling a strange sense of deja vu, Weiss decided to think about something else. Maybe Pyrrha succeeded in convincing Ruby to eat with them? As if on cue, the redhead in question was within view with a Ruby in tow. _'Wow, she actually convinced Ruby to eat with us, I wasn't expecting her to come here willingly.'_

However, Ruby wasn't exactly happy to see Weiss, it was bad enough she was being being forced to see her everyday afterschool. _'Are you kidding me? She's the friend that Pyrrha talked about? I thought she said her friend was nice...'_

"Hey Weiss, I brought us some company." Pyrrha chirped as she sat at the table, gesturing to Ruby to join her and Weiss. Ruby parked herself at the end of the table, with Pyrrha seated on her right and Weiss on her left.

"It's nice you see you again, Ruby." Weiss spoke eloquently, trying her best to not sound like the notorious Ice Queen that people have taken her for "how has your day been?" saly, she realized she was sounding a bit too uptight. _'Seriously, that's the best question you could ask her? You can do better, damn it.'_

Ruby picked up her hamburger, wishing she had taken a bite before Weiss could ask her question. "F-Fine…" Ruby quickly took a bite so she didn't have to talk for the time being. _'Why is she being so friendly? She clearly wasn't that interested in me on friday, so why now?'_

Weiss was just as confused on the inside as Ruby as she watched the black haired girl take a bite of her food, obviously trying to keep herself from talking. _'Weird, I thought she was grumpy and stubborn type...but now she's meek and reclusive just like that time she caught me staring at her ...maybe she was just in a bad mood back then?'_ Weiss shifted her attention to Pyrrha, who was apparently staring at Ruby as if there was a difficult riddle written on the younger girl's face. "Pyrrha, I don't think she appreciates you staring."

Pyrrha was quickly brought to her senses. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I was deep in thought. I didn't mean to stare."

"I-It's fine, it's not your fault...I-I'm just not used to eating in the cafeteria, since I usually eat outside in the courtyard...alone..." Ruby was only telling half the truth, yes Pyrrha's staring bothered her, but not us much as the brief stares that Ruby got from the neighboring tables. The other students clearly weren't used to seeing Ruby in the cafeteria.

Pyrrha listened to what had to be the most words she ever heard come out of Ruby's mouth , which was surprising to Pyrrha to say the least. "Well, if you want we could go eat outside if it bothers you that much." Pyrrha pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at the door that led to the usually empty courtyard. "It's not a problem for me and Weiss."

"No, it's fine. Y-You don't have to do that for me, really." Ruby assured, hoping her annoyance went unnoticed. She really hated being coddled, she already got enough of that from her father and sister.

Pyrrha and Weiss shared a quick glance before Weiss spoke. "Ok...Well, What do you do for fun?"

Ruby reluctantly swallowed her food as she thought of an answer. However, the only thing that came to mind was her online life and god forbid she told them about that. So, Ruby did what she usually did in a situation like this. She decided to avoid the question by using sarcasm and being apathetic. "Oh, you know. Sit around all day, roll around all day… the usual mundane stuff." Ruby gestured to her chair as she spoke to emphasise her point.

Weiss of course, was hoping for an actual answer. After all, she wanted to get to know this girl more before tutoring her. "Right...but don't you do anything for fun? Like reading books? Maybe playing games?" She asked

The mention of games nearly caught Ruby off guard, but hid the fact well. Did Weiss place games? Regardless, Ruby didn't falter. "Nope" Ruby nonchalantly popped the 'P' out of habit "I just live a boring life."

"Oh please, I'm sure you have some sort of fun." Weiss gave Ruby her most genuine smile, trying to get Ruby to open up. "I mean, it's impossible not to have something you enjoy."

Pyrrha decided to chime in, giving Weiss a boost in confidence. "I agree, There must be something you enjoy doing."

Ruby wasn't expecting Weiss and Pyrrha to be so persistent. They had pushed her into a corner and Ruby did not like that one bit. "I...I don't see why you'd want to know, it's not like you have to befriend me or anything in order to tutor me." Ruby scoffed at Weiss, hoping the snow haired girl would stop asking questions.

Weiss shared a subtle but confused look with Pyrrha before speaking. "Well...I just thought that we could get to know each other better. We are going to be seeing each other quite often from today onwards after all."

Ruby narrowed her eyes at Weiss, this girl was annoyingly persistent yet somehow...Ruby couldn't help but feel like she met this girl before, now that she wasn't being so formal and uptight like she was back in Ozpin's office. Ruby suddenly had an idea. Maybe she could make a deal with her, Weiss seemed to be the businesswoman type. A smug grin grew on Ruby's face, causing Weiss to look a bit confused by the sudden confidence that Ruby showed. "You know what, how about this. You tell Mr. Ozpin that I don't need any tutoring or whatever and then I'll answer whatever question you like."

Weiss couldn't believe this, why was Ruby so adamant on being so stubborn?_ 'This has to be an act, right? Just five minutes ago this girl looked so shy and nervous, now she's just being a pest. what the hell is her deal?'_ Weiss thought as she began to glare at Ruby. her patience with the younger girl was wearing thin. How could this girl who is clearly smart enough to warrant skipping two whole grades not care about her education? "Listen here, you dunce. Whether you like it or not, I WILL tutor you." Weiss stood up from her seat, staring down at Ruby. "Seriously, why do you want to throw away your education so badly? Don't you have any dreams? Any goals you want to achieve in the future?

Ruby's hands gripped the armrests of her wheelchair tightly, feeling her heart rate rise. Of course she had dreams and goals...but those were pulled out from under her, as if fate decided to just say 'screw your dreams, you need to suffer instead'...Ruby promptly pushed her food away from her and gave Weiss such a menacing glare that it rivaled even her own. "I don't care if I fail, Princess. If you haven't noticed, I'm in a goddamn wheelchair. Kinda hard to follow my dreams in one, don't you think?!" Ruby had finally snapped. Her heart was pounding against her chest, she couldn't remember the last time she had yelled at someone let alone become so angry. Even her hands began to tremble as adrenaline started pumping through her veins as she was filled with anger.

Weiss simply stared at Ruby, her eyes wide as she realized that she had struck a nerve in Ruby. She didn't say anything, fearing she might only make the situation worse.

"M-Maybe we should just start over?" Pyrrha's voice was hesitant, she wasn't sure how to defuse the situation either. "I think we simply just...got off on the wrong foot.

Ruby noticed distant whispers. A quick glance around her surroundings made her realize that her outburst brought the attention of all the other students nearby. Students stared at Ruby, whispering what she could only suspect are potential rumors about her and her sudden outburst. Ruby felt a sudden but familiar pain in her chest, her breathing becoming heavy and her hands sweaty as she clung to the armrest. _'No, I didn't mean to yell at her...I was just...I just-'_ Ruby couldn't take it, she needed to get out of there and away from all the stairs an whispers. Wasting no time, Ruby turned her chair around and left the cafeteria as fast as she could.

Weiss reached her hand out in vain as she watched Ruby stroll away. "Ruby. Wait! I didn't mean it..." Weiss slumped back into her seat. "Great... my first chance to have a conversation with her and I blew it…"

"Hey, don't give up yet. I can try and talk to her tomorrow in class. I'll ask her to give you another chance, ok?" Pyrrha tried to sound as confident as ever.

"I appreciate that, Pyrrha." after taking a deep breath, Weiss stood up from her seat and picked up her tray. "I think I'm gonna head off to my next class early, I'll see you later in World History."

Just as Pyrrha saw Weiss leave the cafeteria, a certain boisterous Blonde and her girlfriend walked up to Pyrrha's table. "Hey Pyrrha, what's up?" Yang practically jump into the seat to Pyrrha's right while Blake sat on the other side of Yang.

"Oh not much, Weiss just tried to make a new friend but it seems we hid a bit of a road bump in the process." Pyrrha pointed her fork at the deserted food tray that Ruby had left behind.

Yang frowned at the sight of the half eaten food that sat on the tray Pyrrha pointed at. "Oh, you mean Ruby? Yeah, that ain't gonna be so easy. She can be kind of...difficult. Hell, Blake hasn't even had a conversation with her yet and Ruby met her last year."

Blake rested her chin in her palm as she recalled meeting the ever so distant Ruby. "Kind of hard when she seems to have no interest in talking to me past the casual greeting..."

Pyrrha perked her up one of her eyebrows at Yang and Blakes words. How did they know Ruby? Pyrrha could imagine Ruby and Blake somehow being friends, but Yang? She could only imagine the younger girl avoiding someone as loud and social as Yang like a plague. "Wait. You and Blake know Ruby?"

Yang looked at Pyrrha with a raised eyebrow. "Well, yeah. Why would I not know my own sister?"

Ruby always enjoyed her art class, the teacher, Miss Peach, was really cool and tended to let her student's do whatever they want as long as they got their projects done. Ruby of course had her canvas set up in the back of the classroom, enjoying the isolation she had. The project she was working on required the students to draw a scenic piece, prompting Ruby to attempt to draw her home which was surrounded by forest on three sides. However, for the life of her, Ruby couldn't concentrate. She couldn't stop thinking about her outburst in the cafeteria, thinking she may have overreacted. Ruby knew she needed to do better in school, but she just had no motivation, no end goal to drive her. Weiss was only trying to be nice, she made it very clear with the genuine tone of her voice. Ruby's thoughts suddenly shifted to the older girl's voice. She couldn't help but feel like the voice sounded familiar. "Maybe we met in middle school? No, I think I would have remembered meeting someone with snow white hair…"

Deciding she needed a break, she took her phone out of her pocket. Ruby needed advice, and there was only one person she knew that would be free at the moment and would be willing to help her with her guilt ridden state. Ruby quickly typed out her message, hesitating for a moment before sending the send button. "Maybe she isn't the best person to ask for advice about this...then again, it's either her...or Goodwitch" Ruby shuddered at the thought of asking the school counselor for help and promptly pushed the send button.

[Ruby]: Hey, are you free at the moment? I could really use some advice…

Ruby waited for a response. She usually never asked her old friend for help, the last time was nearly a year ago when she needed someone to talk to after having a certain nightmare that had woken her up with a panic attack. Ruby shook her head, ridding her mind of the horrible memories. Suddenly Her phone dinged, Ruby stared at the response with a small smile.

[Nora]: of course! I'm always free to help, Little Red!

[Nora]: So, what do you need help with?


	5. Blackmail From A Friend Is All You Need

Ruby quickly typed out her troubles onto her phone and just as quickly sent the message, hoping that her friend could help her out before the bell rang. Nora was the only person she could comfortably vent to, she never treated Ruby like a child or make things easier for her. In Fact, Nora often tried to make things Challenging for Ruby whenever they played online. Ruby really appreciated Nora for treating her like there was nothing wrong with her and even go so far as to invite her to go rock climbing once when they first met. Of course, Ruby declined for obvious reasons. One was that she was but a child who couldn't use her legs, and two was that she had just met the crazy, energetic girl. Ruby couldn't help but bite her lip nervously as she waited for a reply. Of course, when she did get her reply, she should have known that Nora would be so lighthearted about it.

[Nora]: Wow, I didn't know Little Red could get so angry! XD

[Ruby]: Nora, please! I'm being serious here…and when are you ever gonna stop calling me that? it's embarrassing.

Nora]: Oh please, don't pretend like you never liked that nickname. ;)

[Ruby]: I was 12 when you started calling me that! I'm nearly 15 now, I'm not a child anymore.

[Nora]: Sorry Little Red, but you'll always be that same little girl in red I met 2 years ago.

Ruby rolled her eyes as a smile grew on her face, despite what she told Nora, she did indeed like the nickname. Nora somehow always made Ruby happy no matter how bad of a mood she was in. However, she didn't contact Nora to chit chat.

[Ruby]: Fine...but back on topic. What should I do? I don't get why this girl is trying to so hard to be nice to me. She clearly didn't even want to tutor me when the principal asked her to, it makes no sense.

[Nora]: Well, it sounds like all you need to do is just apologize. I'm sure she feels just as bad about it as you do. And besides, don't go pretending I haven't overheard your conversation with Myrtenaster friday about your school life. You need to start taking it seriously or you'll regret it later in life.

[Ruby]: why should I apologize though? I was only being honest.

[Nora]: Sometimes being honest like that makes things worse. I'm sure that if you just apologize and explain why you acted the way you did, she'll understand. It's practically socializing 101.

[Ruby]: Yeah and I suck at socializing…

[Nora]: you seem to socialize perfectly fine as Crescent. Although, I have noticed you've been acting a bit more like your moody self online lately.

[Ruby]: Yeah, but Crescent isn't the one in a wheelchair with scars on her body, and I've been moody because of school. It's so stressful with so many people around, staring at me wherever I go.

Ruby put a hand on her stomach, she really hated those scars. She felt ugly because of them, even if no one could see them. All they did was bring horrible memories back from the grave. It took a bit longer than usual for Nora to respond, so she sat there, clutching the lower half of her sweater as she waited for her friend to respond.

[Nora]: How about we make a deal. if you apologize AND take the tutoring seriously, I won't tell Myrtenaster about the real reason why she got that Snow Angel's Staff.

Ruby's eyes widened, she was being blackmailed by her friend and she knew Nora was serious about this. She could only imagine the confident smirk Nora must have right now as she waited for Ruby to reply. She really didn't want Myrtenaster to find out, she wasn't ready for that level of embarrassment. It was bad enough that Pyrrha and Jaune knew already.

[Ruby]: Fine...not like I have much of a choice now.

[Nora]: Good. Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to my class. My professor is staring me down like an angry owl as we speak, wish me luck! XD

Ruby shook her head at the message. She truly was lucky to have a friend that would risk getting into trouble in class in order to help her out.

"Ruby, is your project done?" Ruby nearly jumped out of her chair. She didn't even notice Ms. Peach approach her. "Class is almost over and you've just been texting the whole time" despite how lenient she was, Ms. Peach was still a teacher and wouldn't tolerate student's slacking off too much.

"S-Sorry...I just wasn't in the right mood to draw today…" Ruby really didn't like disappointing Ms. Peach, her class was the only one that Ruby actually did the work for.

Ms. Peach shook her head at the excuse. "Well, I'm sorry to say that you don't have time to finnish it. Class is just about over."

Ruby was saddened at the idea of failing a project in art, she never failed one of Ms. Peach's assignments before. "umm ...i-is there a way I can finnish it at home? I'm almost done with it."

Ms. Peach looked at Ruby with a questionable look and then at the drawing that she had started. She sighed, Ms. Peach knew she shouldn't do this, but… "alright, you can finish it at home...but it better be finished when you come into class tomorrow." just then, the bell signifying the end of the school day rang and students began leaving the classroom in a hurry to head for their next class. Ruby was just about to leave but Ms. Peach stopped her. "Wait, I actually came to give you this note." before Ruby could say anything, Ms. Peach handed her a paper that was folded several times. "Someone stopped by and wanted me to give you this."

Ruby looked at the folder paper, nothing indicated who it was from. "Who would send me a letter?"

"Sorry, they told me to keep it a secret." Ms. Peach gave Ruby a playful smirk before returning to her desk. Ruby opened the letter and began to read it. Apparently it was a letter telling her to meet someone at the Library in the Non-Fiction section. Ruby was at a loss for words.

_'___Who would send me a letter? Is this a prank or something? ...Wait...i-is this a love letter?!'__ Ruby quickly shook her head, no way would someone fall in love with a girl in a wheelchair. No one would want to be with a depressed and helpless girl like her...right? She read the letter for a second time, then a third. _'___What if it is a love letter...'__ Ruby blushed at the thought. Hesitantly, Ruby decided to do as the letter said and made her way to the School Library.

Weiss' day couldn't get any worse, she had an argument with her father first thing in the morning, was nearly late for her first class because of said argument, and worst of all...she blew her chances to try and befriend a certain Ruby Rose. The girl was being difficult to put it mildly, and it's not like Weiss was wrong in some of the things she said. Although, that doesn't make it any less hurtful towards Ruby. Weiss rested her head on her desk, failing to stay focused on the teacher's lecture on photosynthesis... though to Weiss' credit, she already went over this material during summer break with her father's hand-picked tutor. Weiss suddenly remembered the whole reason she got Ruby to eat lunch with her in the first place. _'___I didn't even get the chance to speak to Ruby about where we should study...hell, at this point I don't even think she'd show up anyways...'__

Suddenly, Weiss' phone vibrated, grabbing her attention away from her agonizing troubles. Weiss pulled out her phone and placed it on her lap so the teacher couldn't see it. The message wasn't from anyone in her contact list and therefore, had no name. Who could have gotten her phone number? The only people who had it was her family and Pyrrha. Weiss suddenly frowned as she was reminded of her nearly non-existent social life. Hesitantly, she opened the message only to be even more confused by what it said.

[?]: Hey, meet me at the school library after school. I'll be in the non-fiction section.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the message, who in their right mind had the gall to give orders to Weiss Schnee? Furious, Weiss quickly typed out her reply and jammed her thumb on the send button.

[Weiss]: Who is this? How did you get this number?

No response. Did this person have the wrong number? Was it a prank? Regardless, Weiss wasn't going to shrug this off. If someone had her number without her permission, she was certainly going to confront them about it. Luckily, she didn't have to wait as the bell signifying the end of the school day echoed throughout the school. Once out of the classroom, Weiss made a dash for the Library. "I swear if this is some sort of prank, they're gonna wish they were never born."

The School Library was vast and empty as most students were already heading home. Weiss had always thought the Library looked beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale with its rows upon rows of tall wooden bookshelves, the perfectly cut and always clean tiled floor, the many large marble pillars that held up the ceiling. It was truly majestic. There was even a second floor that had a pretty decent view of the city from the hill the school stood on. Weiss began to make her way through the many bookshelves of the Non-fiction section until she found an opening where several tables were placed for students to read or study. She frowned when she saw that no one was there to greet her, so she decided to sit at one of the tables closest to her._ '___Of course whoever sent me the text is late...If they don't show up in the next 10 minutes, I'm leaving.'__ Luckily, Weiss didn't have to wait for long.

"W-Weiss? W-What are you doing here?" a quiet and shocked voice sounded from behind her. Weiss turned her head toward the source, surprised by the sight of Ruby sitting in her wheelchair behind her. However, Weiss was confused when she noticed Ruby had quite the noticeable blush on her face. "W-Were the one w-who sent me the letter?"

"What? What letter? I was told to meet som-" just then, Weiss' phone dinged. She let out an irritable groan as she took out her phone and read the sudden text message.

[Pyrrha]: Hey! I got you a chance to fix this up with Ruby, don't screw it up. Good luck!

Weiss put her hand to the bridge of her nose as she hung her head. Of course Pyrrha set this up, but why did she do it in such a roundabout way?

"I-Is something wrong?" Ruby's voice was quiet but was just loud enough to get Weiss' attention.

"No, just a message from a friend..." Weiss didn't know what to do, she wasn't expecting to see Ruby here of all people. "I take it you got a weird text that told you to meet someone here too?"

""Wait, you mean...you're not the one who sent me this letter?" Ruby pulled out the letter she had gotten in art class from her hoodie pocket, holding it up for Weiss to see.

"I didn't send you any letter." Weiss swiftly took the letter out of Ruby's hand and began reading. Yep, that was Pyrrha's handwriting alright. "Pyrrha sent you this, I can recognize her handwriting anywhere."

Ruby's eyes went wide. "W-what?! P-Pyrrha sent me a love letter?!"

"What?! No you Dunce, she sent you this letter to get you and I to meet together." Weiss began to glare at Ruby. She swore this girl was gonna start giving her grey hairs in no time. "trust me, Pyrrha is as straight as an arrow."

Ruby shrunk into her wheelchair, realizing how stupid she sounded "Oh, right...o-of course. I knew that..." Ruby fiddle with her fingers as she mentally cursed herself for being so naive, thinking there was a chance of someone actually liking her in such a way.

A sudden silence hung between the two girls, quickly making the atmosphere around them to become awkward. Neither of them could look the other in the eye, deciding to simply stare at their own feet. After a while, Ruby couldn't bare the awkwardness, breaking the silence between them.

"I-I'm sorry." Ruby was giving everything she had not to stutter too much, though she wasn't doing too well. She couldn't believe she was actually apologizing to this girl.

Weiss lifted her head towards Ruby with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I-I'm sorry... f-for yelling at you back at lunch…y-you were only trying to help and I was being a jerk…" Ruby was quick to revert to her habit of fidgeting with her hair, her heart beat increasing the more she talked. She felt vulnerable as she tried really hard not to put up any walls like she usually would. Today was proving to be a stressful day, this was the second time she was forcing herself to socialize. 'Seriously, why am I apologizing? I'm sure she was just acting nice out of pity…'

Weiss simply stared at Ruby, she certainly wasn't expecting her to apologize, let alone talk to her. She wasn't used to people apologizing to her after an argument, especially since she was the one who would start them in the past. If she was being honest, she was actually bursting with joy on the inside. To anyone else, the apology was a conclusion to a petty argument among teenagers. But not to Weiss, to her it was a sign that she was given a second chance to win Ruby over, to befriend her and for Weiss to improve herself and free herself of her Ice Queen moniker.

She took a few steps towards Ruby. Weiss couldn't hide her happiness even if she tried. With a slightly bigger smile than she usually wore, she stretched out her hand down to Ruby. it took a second for Ruby to notice that Weiss had gotten closer to her. Lifting her head, she was surprised to see Weiss smiling at her, a warm and soft smile that she didn't think the alabaster girl was even capable of doing.

"I accept your apology, Ruby." Weiss' smile slowly turned to a small, subtle frown as she continued to speak. "although, I'll admit I can be a bit...difficult...and sometimes say mean things, but…" Weiss returned to smiling as she grew determined to make things right between her and Ruby. "I assure you, I am trying me best to do better. So, it would mean a lot to me if you gave me one more chance."

Ruby had to do a double take, Weiss' voice seemed different than her usual forced polite and formal tone. The emotions in her words didn't sound as forced as they were during lunch period. Even her facial expressions looked ten times more genuine. Ruby felt a familiar feeling in her stomach, like butterflies dancing around inside her. Last time she felt like this was a month ago when she met Myrtenaster.

"Ruby?" the sound of her name brought Ruby back to her senses, realizing she had made Weiss stand there awkwardly while trying to offer her a handshake.

"S-S-Sorry, I was spacing out." Ruby quickly stammered out, taking Weiss' hand a little too eagerly. Ruby suddenly felt a strong warmth in her chest, she was feeling...relieved? happy? Why did it feel so good to see and hear Weiss so happy? She decided to not think about it and move on, Ruby really didn't want to do this but Nora didn't give her a choice. she hated asking for people's help, it made her feel week and useless. besides, why would Weiss help her after her outburst back at lunch earlier? sadly, she had to do this, Ruby couldn't allow Myrtenaster to know her little secret crush she had on her. Ruby struggled to fight against the urge to put up all her walls, her apathetic and snarky facade would only make things difficult for her at the moment. The only thing she could do was hide behind her long jet black hair and fidget with it as she begrudginly asked Weiss to tutor her. Ruby didn't bother making eye contact with Weiss. "A-Also...I was hoping you would, umm...I-If you would still help me with my school work..."

Weiss was a bit shocked by Ruby's sudden heel turn, it was only several hours ago when Ruby snapped at her and claimed she didn't care if she failed her classes. However, Weiss wasn't gonna complain. She was simply happy that Ruby had given her a second chance, even if it looked like she didn't want to. "Of course, I'd be happy to help you. In fact, how about we start now? we are supposed to study today anyways" Weiss was already pulling out her textbooks, homework and other school supplies and placed them on the table next to her and Ruby.

"W-wait, right now? I-I didn't even bother to bring any school supplies today other than a couple of pencils and my notebook!" Ruby began to panic a little, she hadn't realized how unprepared she was until now. "Hell, I even have a drawing I need to finish by tomorrow for Ms. Peach's art class.

Weiss gave Ruby a confident smirk. She and Ruby may have made amends, but she never planned to give Ruby any slack while tutoring her. "Consider this your first lesson then, always come to school prepared." Weiss pulled out a chair and shoved it underneath another table, giving Ruby room to sit next to her. She then sat at the table and opened her textbook. "Today we'll just focus on getting our ctoday's homework done, ok? No need to get all worked up on the first day."

Ruby reluctantly pulled her wheelchair up to the table beside Weiss and took out her homework. "Alright, fair enough..." With an exasperated sigh, she got started on her homework for the day. Ruby decided to start on one of her favorite subjects first, math. She had always been excellent at math in the past, so Algebra should be no problem. _'___Alright, let's see here. Problem number one is…..crap, I have no idea what I'm looking at.'__

Ruby was at a loss, she hadn't realized just how complex Algebra could be and now she was quickly beginning to regret not paying attention in her class. She used to be praised for her math skills by her teachers back in her older schools, but now she was just as lost as Jaune got when they raided dungeons together. Ruby was finally realizing just how stupid and childish she had been. She not only lost the use of her legs, but now she couldn't even live up to her past self. The only difference is that it's her own fault this time and not some freak accident. Right now, Ruby wanted nothing more than to go back in time and slap her past self silly for being such a stubborn ass.

"Need some help?" Ruby nearly jumped from her wheelchair. she had completely forgotten that Weiss was sitting just inches away from her.

"N-No, I was just spacing out...A-Algebra isn't too hard." she at least told Weiss half the truth. Truth be told, it was the hardest thing she had ever seen. It was like looking at an alien language.

"You know, you're a terrible liar." Weiss instantly leaned over towards Ruby to get a better view of her homework, oblivious to how red Ruby's face was getting. "This one's easy, you first solve-" Ruby couldn't focus on anything Weiss was saying. It also didn't help that Weiss was way too close to her. It took everything Ruby had to focus on the math problem instead of how pale and smooth Weiss' face was or how her alabaster hair freely fell down her back and shoulders, practically shining from the sunlight that fell upon them from the nearby window. Weiss suddenly turned her head to face her, looking directly into her silver eyes. "Does that make sense to you?"

"Uhh…maybe?" was all that Ruby could muster.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "This is gonna be a long afternoon..."

The sun was beginning to set as it was ever so slowly engulfed by the city's skyline, the sky becoming a bright orange. Weiss and Ruby were currently waiting outside the school for their respective rides home. They had gotten done with Ruby's homework faster than Wiess had expected as she was quick to find out first hand that Ruby was a fast learner. At first, Ruby was acting embarrassed for some odd reason whenever Weiss leaned over to help her, but to Weiss' surprise, Ruby quickly got over it and was steamrolling through the work. As if Weiss wasn't impressed enough by the speed in which they got done, Ruby got nearly every question right on her math homework, History was child's play for the younger girl, and english was a bit slower but nonetheless she did a surprisingly good job on it. Though her grammar was not exactly stellar, Weiss thought it was good enough.

"I have to say, Ruby. I'm impressed with how quickly you caught on to the math equations, it takes most people a couple of tries before getting the hang of it." Weiss was more than impressed actually, she was actually kind of jealous of Ruby's math skills.

"I-I'm not that good or anything, I used to be a lot better at math to be honest..." Ruby was currently adding the final touches to her art project while waiting with Weiss. Her home in the sketch was complete, the surrounding forests just needed a few minor details added in and it would be finished.

"Are you kidding me? You're amazing, you got all but one question right and it was your first time even seeing those equations. Sure it took you some time to understand it, but that's only because you're so far behind." She tried her best to reassure Ruby.

"I guess you're right, I just feel...like...is that a limo?" sure enough, there was a black limo pulling into the school's parking lot, though it was a bit shorter than most. As it got closer, Ruby noticed an intricate white snowflake hood ornament sitting proudly on the hood.

"Oh, that's my ride home." Weiss stated as they watched the limo pulled up in front of them.

"Wait, you have a limo?" just then, a balding man with a ginger mustache stepped out from the driver's seat and eagerly walked around to open the rear passenger door for Weiss. Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing, just who the hell was Weiss and what does her family do for a living. "Y-You have a butler too!?"

"Miss Schnee, does your friend need a ride home as well?" The man asked with a warm smile and a gruffy but still elegant voice.

Weiss was about to answer, but Ruby cut her off before she could even open her mouth. "N-No, I'm good. My sister Yang should be here any minute."

Weiss perked up at the mention of Yang. "Wait a minute, you're sisters with that blonde bru-"

The sound of a truck's horn cut Weiss off, followed by the sound of a certain loud blonde brute she had the misfortune of knowing. "Hey Schnee! Your limo is in my way!" right behind Weiss' limo was a bright yellow pick up that was probably as old as her father, Yang's head was sticking out from the driver's side window. However, the blonde brute couldn't see her little sister from her position.

Ruby rolled her eyes as she started to Propelled herself towards her sister's truck. "I better go before Yang tries to run over your limo." Of course Ruby was only joking, but she knew that her sister would probably attempt to do just that. Just as she was about to roll past Weiss, she stopped in her tracks. "T-Thanks, by the way…" and with that, Ruby quickly darted off towards her sister's truck.

Yang got out of her truck when she suddenly saw Ruby roll into view from beside the limo, slamming the door behind her. "Hey Rubes, can you believe this? The Ice Queen really knows how to show off doesn't she?"

Ruby rolled up to the passenger side and opened the door. "Ice Queen? You mean Weiss?" she asked as she glanced over towards the limo, only to see it already driving off and out of the school's parking lot.

"Yeah, who else would I be talking about?" once Ruby was out of her wheelchair, Yang folded it up and tossed it into the back of her truck and made her way back to the driver's seat.

Ruby waited for her sister to get into the truck before continuing the conversation "Why do you keep calling her the Ice Queen?"

"Because she's a cold hearted rich brat? Seriously, you've been going to this school for little over a month, how do you not know who Weiss Schnee is?" Yang was already pulling out of the parking lot by the time she finished her sentence, racing down the road slightly faster than she should be.

Ruby hadn't realized it until now, she could have sworn she had heard of the name Schnee from somewhere."Well, I'll admit that her last name does sound familiar..."

Yang let out a sigh. Of course her sister didn't know who Weiss Schnee is, she barely talked to anyone to begin with. "She's the heiress of the Schnee Dynamo Corporation, her dad is practically a billionaire."

"What?! The Schnee Dynamo Corporation? The same one that Dr. Polendina worked for!?" Ruby nearly jumped out of her seat in shock, the famous mechanical engineer was legendary for his work in the fields of computer science and robotics. Ruby has idolized the man for years. However, he left the SDC after some sort of scandel involving the FRVR tech and created his own company to continue the development of the FRVR.

"Polen-who?" Yang gave Ruby a questionable look, but quickly returned to watching the road as she nearly forgot she was driving.

Ruby couldn't help but turn into a squealing fangirl. "Dr. Carlo Polendina! One of the greatest engineers in recent history! He's the creator of the FRVR gaming system and even helped work on the Scroll smartphone! Even his daughter is amazing, she helped him make some of the games for the FRVR."

Yang perked up at the mention of the FRVR gaming system. "The FRVR? Isn't that the new virtual reality system that came out a couple of years ago?"

Ruby suddenly realized what she had just said, she was revealing too much knowledge to her sister. "Umm, yeah...i-it's pretty cool. N-not that I've ever used one or anything." Ruby instinctively began rubbing the back of her head as she forced out an awkward laugh.

Yang wasn't stupid, she knows when her sister is lying or hiding something from her. "Right...aren't they super expensive? I think I heard somewhere that they're like a thousand dollars or something like that. I don't think we'd ever be able to afford one of those." Yang really hoped to get Ruby to mess up and accidently confess whatever it is that she is hiding, she didn't like it when people close to her tried to hide things.

"Y-yeah, I could only dream of such a thing…" Ruby muttered, little did Yang know how badly Ruby wanted to escape into her virtual life right now.

"Oh, I almost forgot. How did your little study session go? Is your tutor the hot professor type?" Yang teased as she took a sharp turn onto a dirt road leading up to their home.

"Ew, no! She's another student." Ruby nearly shuddered by the mere thought of some older man tutoring her, that would surely be boring as all hell compared to what she actually had to go through with Weiss.

Yang grew a sly smile. Her little sis had no idea what kind of ammo she just given her. "Oh, so it's a girl, huh?" Yang began wiggling her eyebrows while giving her sister a knowing look.

Ruby tried hard not to blush from Yang's teasing but was failing miserably, her face practically glowed red with embarrassment. "Yang! I-I-It's nothing like that!"

Yang chuckled, teasing her sister would never become boring. "Jeeze, it's been a long time since my teasing riled you up. So what is she like? She's not mean is she?"

"Surprisingly enough, Weiss is actually really helpful...d-despite how difficult she can be at times." Ruby was instantly bombarded by memories of Weiss leaning over her as she explained certain equations, causing her face to turn a subtle shade of red.

Yang nearly choked at the mention of Weiss' name, causing her to pull into their driveway a little rougher that she wanted to. Ruby could have sworn she felt the side of the truck lift a few inches from the ground. "The Ice Queen is tutoring you?!"

"Umm, yeah? Didn't I mention that earlier?" finally outside their home, Ruby opened the door. "Also, could we get out of the truck please? My homework isn't gonna do itself."

Yang wasn't exactly pleased to hear that Weiss Schnee was the one helping Ruby with her education. "This is actually the first time you mentioned who your tutor was..." She grumbled as she slammed the door behind her and grabbed Ruby's wheelchair from the back of her truck. "And I gotta be honest, I don't like the idea of the Ice Queen tutoring you."

Ruby eagerly got into her chair and began rolling herself towards the front door of their home with Yang following shortly after her. "Why not? And seriously, why do you keep calling her the Ice Queen?"

Just as Yang was about to open her mouth, Blake walked out of the front door of their home and answered Ruby's question for her. "Because she's a cold hearted and entitled little brat that thinks she's better than anyone else."

Ruby was a bit shocked to see her sister's girlfriend at their home. However, her shock quickly went away as she simply decided to roll right on past her and into the house. "I'll be in my room doing some homework if you need me." She grumbled.

Blake watched Ruby pass her, unable to keep herself from frowning. She waited until she was sure Ruby was out of view and earshot before speaking to Yang. "Not even a hello this time…"

Yang sighed, she wished Ruby would at least interact with her girlfriend more. "Sorry, I kind of forgot to tell her that you were coming over today so I guess you're sudden appearance took her off guard."

Blake leaned her back against the wall, crossing her arms as she stared into the forest beyond the front yard. "Well, maybe I'll get more than just a hello this weekend."

"You really think Pyrrha's theory is correct, huh?" Yang asked as she leaned on the wall beside Blake.

"Don't you? I know it sounds crazy but it just makes too much sense for us to ignore the possibility."

Yang let out a long sigh. As much as she wanted to deny it, Pyrrha's theory had a lot of merit. "I don't know. If Pyrrha is right, then that just means I don't know my sister as much as I thought I did."

Just then, Blake's stomach let out a loud rumble, surprising both Yang and herself. "Well... I hate to ruin the moment, but I think it's about time we had dinner."

Yang grew a smug smile as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "Good thing I plan on making tuna casserole then, huh?"

"That would be lovely." Blake cooed, eager to have dinner with her girlfriend and her family.

Locking the door, Ruby sighed in relief. Truth be told, Ruby had already finished all her homework back at the school library with Weiss. She only felt slightly guilty for lying to her sister, she just wanted to spend the last couple of hours of the day online with her friends. Rolling up to the side of her bed, she silently pulled out a cardboard box from under her bed. After setting the box on the bed, she opened it to reveal the black skin tight Relaysuit and helmet that allowed her to travel to another world. Now came the hard part, she had to get her noncompliant legs into this super tight suit.

Ruby tossed the suit onto the bed before climbing into it herself. She looked back at her door to make sure she had indeed locked it. After such an exhausting day at school, Ruby was eager to jump back into her online life. After stripping down to just her panties she started to change into the suit, Ruby groaned as she struggled with her noncompliant legs just like every other time she tried to put the suit on. However, this time it was a bit more difficult than usual, the tightness was making it extremely difficult to force her pale and plump legs into the suit. "Ok, it's official. I am gonna have to cut back on the number of cookies I eat…" She let out a small chuckle at her own self deprecating joke. Her legs were certainly getting a little too fatty for the suit and she couldn't afford to order a new one. The suits were custom made after all and so she needed to make sure she didn't get too big for it. On the bright side, the suits did have some elasticity to them.

After about five agonizing minutes, she finally got the suit on. Her legs felt a bit constricted by the suit, more so than usual as she noticed how her legs were stretching the fabric of the suit. "Ok, either I really do need to eat less or I need a new suit, I was pretty small back in the hospital afterall...oh who am I kidding, all I can do is eat less. I could never afford a new suit." She whined to herself as she zipped the suit all the way up, constricting her chest rather tightly. "Ok, I was __definitely__ smaller two years ago….stupid puberty, I better not end up like Yang or so help me." Ruby deadpanned, trying to ignore the fact that she was growing out of the suit faster than she wanted to.

Now that the hard part was done, Ruby eagerly pulled the helmet out of the box and secured it to her head, connecting the small cord that dangled from the helmet to the suit on the nape of her neck. Now that everything was set and ready, Ruby got herself comfortable with her plump legs as straight as possible and her arms perfectly parallel to her sides. after a long deep breath, Ruby was ready. "game start." Ruby commanded with a gleeful but quiet cheer. The all too familiar numbness engulfed her wherever her nerves weren't damaged and Ruby was slowly pulled into the world that was Beacon of Remnants Online.


	6. Cursed Silver

Ruby always loved the feeling of being sent into virtual reality. At first your body feels numb as everything around you is nothing more than a white empty space. Gradually, the world materializes before Ruby while her body regained feeling. She loved it when she could feel the clothes and armor against her digital skin and the weight of her large sword on her back, and then there was the best of them all. She could actually feel her legs. Ok, so what if they weren't real, Ruby didn't care. They were still her legs and she could run around the world and fight magical creatures in the process.

The Grand Plaza filled the void around her and within seconds she could feel the cobblestone beneath her feet. This place was probably her favorite location in the whole city of Vytal. The angelic statue standing tall in the center of the fountain, surrounded by large marble roses stood proudly in the center. Ruby loved the statue, it was simply so majestic looking. Ruby lifted her hand and slid her finger across the air to summon her friends list to see who was online. She immediately became excited the moment she saw that both Ren and Boop were online at the same time, including Jaune, Ren, and Nora. She sent Boop a party invite, however a pop up appeared, telling her that Boop was already in a party.

Ruby giggled. "Of course, she's always in a party with Ren." she decided to simply message Boop.

[Crescent]: Hey, I got a couple of hours of free time today. Mind if I join you and Ren?

[Boop]: Sure, we're in Silver Shire grinding for loot and gold. We're just about to a quest and could actually use one more person. :D

Ruby wasted no time and head for the village of Silver Shire. It wasn't too far from the City of Vytal as it was only a twenty minute walk, ten minutes if you ran. Silver Shire was a small village and was usually a pretty popular place for both new and old players to hang out at. When Ruby arrived at the village, she looked high and low for her friends but it was

"Hey Crescent! You made it just in time!" Ruby spun around and was greeted by the sight of Jaune approaching her with Ren and Boop in tow. "We were just about to head out and do the Cursed Silver quest again. Want to join in?"

"Oh! I haven't done that one yet, I'd love you join you!" Ruby chirped with a huge smile as she darted towards them.

Boop raised one her brows, staring into Ruby's scarlet eyes. "Hey, didn't you say you weren't going to have time to be online during the weekdays anymore?"

Jaune crossed his arms as he tried to look stern, though he was failing horribly. "Oh yeah, that's right. What are you doing online?"

Ruby's eyes darted between Boop "I-I,umm...I got done with studying a little earlier than expected today. Some things kinda happened and so I got maybe an hour until dinner, plenty of time to do a quest."

Jaune's eyes widened when he heard how much work Ruby had. "Wow, that's...that's a lot of school work. Shouldn't you be doing that instead of playing here with us?"

"Nah, it's fine. Me and my tutor are gonna start on that tomorrow." Ruby said nonchalantly. She knew Jaune had a point, but she couldn't do anything about it at the moment. Ruby didn't even know what half of her assignments were to begin with.

Jaune shrugged, not wanting to push any further and make the same mistake he made at the end of last month. "Alright, if you say so Crescent."

The four of them headed over to one of the small houses where the quest giver was at. It was a small cottage on the edge of Silver Shire, the home was built of logs with hay being used as a makeshift roof. Inside was a male NPC who looked to be crying while drinking mead at a small table, a white panel used to accept quests floated beside him.

Jaune, the party leader, pushed the accept button and the NPC who started his dialogue for the quest.

"Y-You've got to help me! My wife, she's gone into the mine with my brother Kain in order to look for our missing daughter, b-b-but that was days ago! Please, no one will go into the mine since the other town folk believe it's cursed, p-please go find them!" The man finished his dialogue and resumed his motions of crying and drinking.

"So it's a simple search and rescue?" Ruby asked.

"Technically speaking, yes. It's probably considered one of the game's darker quests." Ren explained.

Ruby looked up at Ren. "really?"

"Eh, I've done worse." Boop scoffed. "Hell, the wife isn't even that-mmhff"

Jaune had placed his hand over Boop's mouth to shut her up. "Guys, come on. No spoilers for Ruby, this quest is awesome and I'm sure she'd like to experience it to its fullest, right Ruby?"

Ruby pouted playfully as she crossed her arms, feighning annoyance "Yeah, you know I don't like being spoiled."

Boop rolled her eyes as she removed Jaune's hand from her mouth. "Fine, I won't spoil anything…"

The group of four made their way through the forest outside of Silver Shire and began their short trek to the mine the quest directed them towards. The mine itself was an old silver mine in which the village of Silver Shire was named after. Once the group made it to the mine, they found it dark and abandoned with few torches lighting the caverns. It was a pretty straight forward mine, quite literally in fact. The miners who used to work it must of dug in just one direction with only small extensions diverging from the main mine shaft.

"God, it's so dark in here." Ruby mutter after she tripped over an abandoned pickaxe left on the ground. "Now my cloak is all dusty!"

"Come on, Little Red. it's just a cloak, it's not even a real one either." Boop chastised Ruby as she watched the younger girl swipe the dust off her blood red cloak.

"But I really, really like this cloak." Ruby whined, wiping the last of the dust off.

From further down the shaft, Jaune hollered to the two girls "Guys, hurry up. We're almost where the body is!"

"Body? What body?" Ruby asked, looking at Boop for answers.

"I can't say since that would be a spoiler." Boop explained as she and Ruby hurried down to where Jaune and Ren were. The two boys were waiting in front of a dead body that had black matted hair and pale white skin. A glowing letter was crumpled in his hand. Ren tapped on the letter, sending it to everyone's inventory.

Ruby summoned her inventory panel with the swipe of her finger and took out the letter, magically appearing in her hands.

__For anyone who finds this letter, turn back now while you still can. I couldn't protect them, I failed them and now they are doomed for all eternity. I tried to save them, but that monster is immortal. no matter how many times I swung my sword at it, it just wouldn't die. However, there was something odd about the monster, there are certain rocks with gems in them that it refused to go near. The gems are red, like the blood red roses commonly found across Remnant. I think that the monster fears them, as if they can harm him somehow.__

The letter ended as ink trailed off the page, signalling that the man died before he could finish.

"I thought this was a search and rescue mission? How are we supposed to rescue anybody if they're dead?" Ruby asked Ren, even more confused now.

"I said technically. We came, we searched, and now we try to rescue." Ren explained as he lead the group farther into the mine.

"So there's a way to save the wife and I assume the daughter too?" Ruby asked, finally getting an idea of what is going on.

"You'll have to wait and see!" Boop chirped as she skipped behind Ren.

It didn't take long for the group to reach the end of the main shaft. The narrow corridor ended in are large and spacious cave with mining equipment laying about as well as numerous Silver Ore and rocks with blood red gems imbedded inside. In the center of the room however, was a gruesome sight.

A woman hunched over and on her knees, impaled by numerous bone carved javelins and was clearly dead. There was blood all over the floor around her. However, in her arms was a little girl NPC, covered in her mother's blood and very clearly alive and crying.

"D-Don't come any closer! It'll kill you just like mama!" the little girl screamed, but it was too late as numerous skeletons and zombies sprung forth from the ground around her. However, they're interest was not on the little girl but rather the four players that had come to rescue her.

Jaune unsheathed his sword with his shield at the ready. "Alright, everyone ready?!"

"Magnhild is always ready to bash some monsters!" Boop roared with the force of a thunderbolt.

Ren of course remained silent as he drew his twin daggers from his hips, covering Nora's right flank as Jaune was on her right flank.

Jaune waited for the fourth member of their party to call out, but only got silence. "Crescent, you ready?!"

Silence again.

"Crescent, come on, we're in the middle of a...Crescent?" As soon as Jaune turned to his left to face his fourth party member, he was greeted by the sight of a shaking and terrified looking Crescent who had yet to unsheath her giant sword from her back.

Ruby couldn't look away from the gruesome sight before her. She couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. Her pulse echoing in her mind, telling her that her heart was pounding against her ribcage in the real world, her hands shook violently and her breathing was heavy and erratic. Horrible memories began flooding her mind, her voice barely audible as she muttered to herself incoherently.

"N-No...s-she can't die...I-I…n-no..." Ruby choked on her own words as blood red, digital warning messages popped up in front of her vision.

"C-Crescent, what's wrong!? Are you-" was all Ruby heard as she was forced out of the game and back into reality. She immediately threw off her helmet as streams of tears forced their way out of her eyes. Her pulse continued pounding in her ears as she struggled to control her breathing, forcing herself to take deep breaths. Her vision was blurred by her own tears as she clutched onto her stomach with her left hand, digging her fingers into the black Relaysuit. Ruby tried to find something, anything to think about other than her mother.

Suddenly, a knock sounded from her door. "Ruby, dinner is almost ready. Dad's finally home and we're having tuna casserole." it was Yang hollering to Ruby from the other side of her bedroom door. A much needed distraction from her terrifying memories.

"I-I-I'll be out i-in a m-minute!" Ruby's voice cracked as she struggled to get the words out.

"Are you ok in there?" Yang's words were laced with concern as she jiggled the doorknob, unable to open the locked door.

Ruby searched frantically for an excuse, anything was better than telling her sister the truth. To show her how weak she has become, how vulnerable she was at the moment. However, nothing was coming to mind so she decided to just wing it, not even bothering to pay attention to her choice of words.

"I-I'm ok...j-just...r-really busy with s-something!" Ruby's voice cracked again

"O-oh, umm, okay... just hurry up so we can all have dinner together with Blake." Ruby listened to her sister's footsteps as they got farther and farther away.

Her breathing was slowly becoming controllable again but tears still fell down her face. She slowly sat up, taking her time as she focused all her attention in calming herself down.

"I-It's ok...I-I-I'm fine...n-nothing's gonna h-happen to me…I'm perfectly s-safe..." Ruby chanted to herself, taking long deep breaths in between. She repeated the mantra several times before she finally calmed herself down. However, her hands were still shaking as adrenaline was still pumping through her veins.

Ruby took her time as she changed into her clothes again, fumbling with each article of clothing as her hands continued to shake and her vision still a bit blurry from her crying earlier. Ruby pulled herself to the edge of her bed and clumsily got into her wheelchair, nearly falling off the edge of her bed a few times before she finally succeeded. Ruby took one more deep breath before leaving her room.

Blake and Taiyang were setting up the table while Yang was in the kitchen. Taiyang was the first to spot Ruby rolling into the dining room. "Look who finally decided to come out of her room, did you get any homework done?"

Ruby simply hummed in response as she pulled up to the table. She didn't want to risk her voice cracking again.

It didn't take long for Yang to come out of the kitchen carrying a pan of tuna casserole and a massive smile. "Dinner is ready!"

As tuna casserole was shared among them, as they ate their dinner happily, Ruby remained silent. Of course, she couldn't remain silent for too long as her father began asking how her day was.

"So Ruby, how did your study session go? I hope your tutor wasn't too hard on you." Taiyang asked between bites.

"It was fine. She wasn't too bad." Ruby stated quietly as she took a bite of her casserole.

"Well that's good, Yang made her sound like she's a nightmare to deal with." Taiyang wasn't too trusting of Yang's explanation considering it seemed like she didn't get along with the tutor in question.

"She is! Weiss thinks about no one but herself. She thinks she is always right and gets so much praise from every teacher in the school." Yang whined as she stuffed her mouth full of casserole.

Taiyang raised an eyebrow as he pointed his fork towards Yang. "Wait a minute, isn't this the same girl you complained about last year? The one that you claimed stole your crush from you?"

Blake nearly choked on her food upon hearing that. She looked to Yang with a teasing smirk "You had a crush on Pyrrha? You know she's straight, right?"

Ruby perked up at the mention of Pyrrha. She remembered her sister always going on about some girl she had a crush on last year, but never really paid much attention to it. She was actually surprised to find out that the girl her sister had a crush on was Pyrrha. Then again, she did think that Pyrrha sent her a stupid love letter earlier today, so that didn't really make her any better than her older sister.

Yang rolled her eyes, when did it become teasing Yang day? "She didn't steal her from me, Pyrrha simply befriended her and I barely get to hang out with her anymore. And it was just a stupid crush, I'm way over it already."

Taiyang laughed at his oldest daughter before bringing his attention back to Ruby. "Right, anyways. Ruby, since you're being tutored by this Weiss girl, do you think she's as cold as your sister makes her out to be? I'd like to finally get an unbiased opinion for once."

Ruby let out an annoyed groan, she really wasn't in the mood to talk. However, she was getting a little annoyed listening to her sister and Blake constantly complain about Weiss. "Like I said, she isn't that bad. In fact, she actually seemed kinda nice."

"Oh please, how could the Ice Queen possibly be nice…" Yang grumbled under her breath.

Ruby stabbed her fork into her casserole, glaring at Yang. "You just hate her because Pyrrha doesn't hang out with you anymore. Seriously, it's getting old listening to you complain all the time."

Yang scoffed at Ruby. "Oh yeah? Why don't you give us an example of how nice Weiss really is, since you seem to be such an expert all of the sudden. You've only known her for what? A day?"

Ruby continued to glare at her sister, a fire burning inside her, urging her to accept Yang's challenge. She wasn't even sure why she was so angry about this, Yang wasn't wrong, she had only been around Weiss for less than 24 hours and yet she was defending her, someone she knew almost nothing about. Ruby couldn't help it though, she was the one that was mean to Weiss, not the other way around like Yang was claiming. Ruby was the one that yelled at Weiss when all she was trying to do was get to know her.

The two sisters continued to glare at each other. Taiyang was about to try and calm the situation but it was too late, Ruby's anger once again got the better of her. It probably didn't help that she just got done with having a panic attack just 20 minutes ago and she was already in a bad mood because of it.

As if a volcano had just erupted inside her head, Ruby couldn't stop herself from rambling in anger. "You want an example? Fine. Earlier today at lunch, she was asking me all about my interests or hobbies in which I refused to answer and I was actually being really mean about it and then I snapped at her and made a whole goddamn scene because of it with everyone staring at me, probably making up all sorts of rumors about me now and then I stormed off without even apologizing to her!"

Everyone at the table remained silent as they stared in awe at Ruby, none of them had actually seen Ruby explode like this before. Ruby simply sat there, trying to catch her breath. her eyes never stopped glaring at Yang, but Yang couldn't return a glare of her own as she was too shocked by her sister's outburst. Ruby felt a mixture of anger and relief, almost as if she had just been forced to confess that she knew her way of dealing with people was wrong. That putting up walls and staying away from them was only making her miserable. Only thing was, it was true. She did know that her behavior in the last couple of years was wrong, but she didn't care. She didn't want anyone's sympathy or pity.

Blake was the first to speak, hoping to de-escalate the situation. "Okay, I think we all just need to-"

"I'm going to bed." Ruby stated, her voice filled with irritation. She quickly pushed herself away from the table and quickly rolled out of the dining room.

Everyone at the table remained silent until they heard the sound of Ruby's bedroom door being slammed shut behind her.

Taiyang was the one to break the silence this time. "Well, that was unfortunate... I'm sorry you had to see that, Blake. Dinner here is usually much more...calmer."

"It's fine, Sir. I should probably be getting home soon anyways, it's getting pretty late and we do have school tomorrow." Blake wiped her mouth with a napkin and got up from her chair. "Thank you very much for having me over for dinner, I hope I can enjoy your cooking again someday."

Yang got out of chair and grabbed her keys from the counter. "I'll drive you home. Sorry dad, I'll help with the dishes when I get back."

"Don't worry about it, you two lovebirds take your time." Taiyang gave his daughter a knowing look, teasing her one more time in front of her girlfriend before they leave.

"Daaad! C'mon, I'm just taking her home." Yang whined before shutting the front door behind her.

"Yeah right, who does she think she's talking? Like I haven't been a teenager before." Taiyang chuckled as he collected the plates from the dining room table and dumped them into the sink of the kitchen. After rinsing off the dishes and putting them into the dishwasher, he walked up to Ruby's bedroom door. After a quick knock, he tried to open the door but found it to be locked.

Taiyang sighed, he really didn't like that Ruby locked her door so often. "Ruby, unlock the door. We need to have a talk."

Nothing but silence.

"Ruby, I'm being serious. If you don't open this door than I'll-"

"go away!" Ruby yelled, muffled by the door.

Taiyang rolled his eyes as he groaned, oh how he misses the days when his daughters weren't stubborn teenagers. He took his keychain off his belt loop and selected the key to Ruby's bedroom, he was extra careful in making sure his daughter didn't know it existed. He wasn't gonna put a lock on her door without having a way to get in, especially in cases of an emergency. As soon as he unlocked the door, he entered Ruby's room. Ruby shot up in a sitting position in her bed, shocked that her dad had entered her room.

"H-How did you, since when did...g-go away!" Ruby swung her blanket over her, hiding underneath it.

Taiyang sat at the edge of her bed. "Look, Ruby, I can't help you if you ju-"

"I don't want anyone's help!" Ruby's snapped, muffled by her blanket.

"Ok, then could you explain to me what is wrong? I'm not leaving until you do."

Ruby groaned as she shifted under the covers before reluctantly peeking her head out. "I-I really don't want to talk about it…"

Taiyang began to smile, hoping it would help Ruby open up. "That may be, but it seems like keeping it to yourself is only causing you problems."

Ruby sighed as she sat up, she knew that her dad won't give up just because she told him to go away. She stayed silent for a few moments, trying to figure out how to explain what happened without revealing her secret that was currently sitting in a box underneath her bed. "I wasn't actually doing homework, I was sleeping and I had a bad dream...it was about mom"

Taiyang's smile quickly turned to a frown, right then he knew what the problem was. "Ah, I see…did you have panic attack again?"

Ruby tightened her grip on her blanket, she hated admitting to it outloud so she simply nodded.

Tai slowly shook his head. His youngest daughter is certainly as stubborn as her sister. "Why did you try to hide it?"

"Because...I don't want anyone to see how weak I am...How vulnerable I've become..." Ruby felt a tear fall down her cheek. Next thing she knew, she was being hugged by her father.

"You're not weak, sweetie. You're one of the strongest and smartest people I know." Tai released Ruby, giving her a warm smile. "And it's ok to ask for help from time to time. Even I sometimes need help, remember the first time I tried to make you and Yang brownies? I nearly set the house on fire!" Taiyang let out a boisterous laugh.

Ruby giggled as she wiped away her tears, she remembered that event as if it were yesterday. "Yeah, Uncle Qrow had to use two fire extinguishers just to put you out."

"Yes, and In the end he helped me bake you girls brownies without anymore trouble." Taiyang moved some of Ruby messy bangs away, revealing more of her face. "So, are you gonna keep hiding your problems from me and your sister?"

Ruby hugged her father tightly. He was right after all, but it's gonna be difficult. What could she do that would help her not feel so weak? If only there was something she could do that made her happy again in the real world. "Alright...I'll try really hard not to hide my problems anymore, but to be honest...It's gonna be kinda hard."

Taiyang kissed the top of her head before tucking her in bed. "That's fine, all I'm asking is for you to try your best. Anyways, I'm gonna go clean up the house. You're sister and her girlfriend kind of left a mess in the living room." Once Ruby was tucked into bed, he got up and made his way to the door.

"Hey dad?" Ruby called out

Taiyang stopped in the doorway. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Thanks...for everything."

"No Problem, kiddo." And with that, Taiyang left and closed the door behind him.

Ruby laid there in her bed, thinking of what she could do that would make her happy again. It's not like she could play sports again and college is too expensive at the moment.

'__As much as I'd hate to admit it, but maybe I should go ask Glynda for advice…'__

Suddenly, her phone started buzzing on her nightstand. Warning her that she had a message. She grabbed her phone and unlocked it. It was Nora, spamming her with messages.

[Nora] Ruby, what happened? Are you ok? Jaune was freaking out when you got pulled from the game but I covered for you, so don't worry about him knowing anything."

[Nora] Seriously, are you ok? Message me soon.

There were about ten more messages of Nora trying to get a hold of her. Ruby typed out a response before setting her phone back onto her nightstand.

[Ruby] I'm fine, just had a panic attack. Also, sorry I didn't respond sooner, was having dinner with my family.

This monday was probably the most exhausting monday in her entire life. She could barely even think at this point as she closed her eyes as the day's exhaustion finally consumed her. Ruby had a busy week ahead of her and she needed as much sleep as she could get, she had a feeling that today's study session with Weiss was going to be nothing like the rest that await her. Ruby had no idea how right she was in her assumption.


	7. Identity Crisis and a Chilly Dinner

When Weiss accepted Ozpin's request to tutor Ruby, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. When she first met the younger girl, She was closed off and quick to anger. If Weiss had met her before Pyrrha befriended her, She would have probably made Ruby public enemy number two, right after Yang Xaio Long.

Pyrrha was the only person who was willing to not judge Weiss off her appearance and attitude, Something Weiss didn't even know she needed at the time. Pyrrha made Weiss realize that she needed to change if she didn't want to be alone anymore.

So when Monday came around, Weiss saw Ruby's closed off and apathetic attitude as a challenge. Not only as a tutor, but also as a potential friend to make. Of course, Weiss had a rough start but somehow was still able to get Ruby to work with her on improving her grades. Weiss wasn't sure what made Ruby change her mind back then but Weiss didn't care, She was just happy that she was able to make progress.

Progress that seemed to be at a standstill for the rest of the week...

**Tuesday, October 1st.**

"Ruby, it's simple. All you have to do is figure out what X is...And stop eating in the library!"

"I can't help it, I'm hungry okay!" Ruby stuffed another cookie into her mouth with her right hand as she tried to answer the infernal math problem with her left hand.

Weiss was just seconds away from snatching Ruby's cookies away and throwing them into the nearest trash bin. Not only were they distracting but she was also actually wanting some cookies herself. "You're not suppose to eat in the library, it's against school rules."

"Screw the rules, I have cookies!" Ruby was just about to grab another cookie before Weiss grabbed the box away from her. "Hey! Give those back!

When Ruby tried to get her cookies back, Weiss stood from her chair and held the box of cookies above her head, completely out of reach from the wheelchair bound Ruby.

"This is such a dick move, Weiss! Give me back my cookies!" Ruby whined as she tried, uselessly tried I might add, to reach for her delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Weiss felt a little bad as she watched Ruby struggle. Well, only a little. "No, You need to follow the rules and...No, It's not gonna happen. Those puppy dog eyes won't work on me, Ruby Rose."

They worked, and Weiss hated it so much.

_'Damn those puppy dog eyes, who taught Ruby how to use such a lethal weapon of mass destruction?'_ Weiss rested her chin on her palm as she watched Ruby eat her cookies while doing her math homework.

Ruby still struggled with learning the new formulas for Algebra and History was a bore for her, but at least she was a quick learner. At least, that's how Weiss looked at it. Ruby on the other hand seemed to think she wasn't learning it fast enough.

**Wednesday, October 2nd.**

"Ruby, I'm sure you know this already, but you can't rush this sort of thing. Besides, you should be glad Ozpin didn't give you a deadline for all the work you didn't do..."

The more Weiss knew about Ruby's second chance given by Ozpin, the more she was starting to suspect him of playing favorites. Then again, he always held Weiss in high regards as well, so maybe it was family ties that made Ozpin be so generous to Ruby?

"I don't care. The sooner I get this stupid work done, the better...I-I'll be right back, gonna go and use the rest room."

Weiss sighed and nodded her head, Watching Ruby roll herself towards the closest restroom. Once Weiss was alone, she looked over Ruby's currently finished history essay. About 8 minutes pass before she heard a buzzing sound coming from Ruby's side of the table. It was Ruby's phone.

Weiss, with nothing better to do, decided to see who was messaging Ruby. It was Yang, asking about dinner. However, what caught Weiss' eye was the number. It looked eerily familiar. Weiss took out her phone and scrolled through her texts to find the one from Monday that told her to meet someone in the library. When she found the text she was looking for, her eyes widened. The numbers were a match.

_'How did Yang get my number, especially when Pyrrha said she was the one who...Pyrrha, of course...So now the question is, Why did Pyrrha get Yang involved?'_

"is there a reason you're looking through my phone?" Weiss jumped out of her seat at the sound of Ruby's stern voice.

"I'm sorry, it was buzzing and I thought that it might have been important and, and...Here, I'm sorry..." Weiss gave up on making excuses and simply gave Ruby her phone back.

Ruby checked the message on her phone and chose to ignore it. She put her phone in her pocket and rolled back into her spot on her side of the table. "It's fine I guess... It's not like I have any secrets on it or anything."

"Right...Hey, Ruby. Do you mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"

Ruby looked up at Weiss, unsure of where she was going with the sudden question. "I-I guess?"

"I was wondering, what is it like having Yang as a sister?"

Ruby blinked a few times before placing her hand on her chin, thinking of how to answer.

"Hmm...W-Well, I guess she's okay. She's never really mean or anything and she probably cares a little too much when it comes to me and my health...b-but other than that, she's a great older sister." Ruby smiled to herself at the last part, but quickly turned to a frown.

Weiss noticed this and decided to change the subject. "Right, well...We should get back to work. We just need to complete this piece of English homework and then we can finally head home."

Weiss was going to talk about her own sister with Ruby in an attempt to maybe bond and get to know each other but upon seeing Ruby's frown, she didn't want to risk a repeat of what happened Monday.

That was the same reason why she didn't bother commenting on how tired Ruby was looking. Weiss was starting to get concerned that Ruby was pushing herself a little too hard on the first week. However, Weiss kept it to herself, until tomorrow that is...

**Thursday October 3rd.**

"Ruby, you look awful, did you get any sleep at all last night?"

"hmm?...O-Oh, right, yeah. I was just going over notes and lost track of time... I-I'm fine, really."

Weiss wasn't convinced, Ruby was starting to get bags under her eyes and had brought two boxes of cookies this time around. At first Weiss thought the second box was for her, but nope, they were all for Ruby. Weiss theorized that Ruby brought so many cookies in an attempt to hide her tiredness by masking it with her addiction to the delicious treats while simultaneously keeping herself awake with all the sugar. Sadly, Weiss had no idea how right she was.

Weiss really didn't want to start an argument but as her tutor, she had to put her foot down. "Forgive me for saying this, but I find that hard to believe."

"Seriously Weiss, I'm fine...I-I just skipped breakfast today and lunch wasn't exactly appetizing."

"Then explain how you got all these equations wrong, right after you insisted that you understood the formulas that I taught you just minutes beforehand?"

Ruby groaned, she really didn't want to deal with this right now, she just wanted to get this work done. "O-okay, fine I'm tired! So what!? As long as the work gets done, who cares?"

Weiss wasn't going to answer that, obviously s_he_ cared. And Ruby's family would also care but that's a given. "Do them again." Weiss commanded, handing over Ruby's homework.

Ruby begrudgingly took the paper and erased all her wrong answers, muttering to herself all the while.

Weiss simply sighed. She didn't want to be hard on the girl but this is ridiculous, Ruby really shouldn't be pushing herself this hard. But on the bright side, at least she seemed determined...maybe a little too determined.

**Friday, October 4th.**

"I have to admit that I'm impressed, I didn't expect you two to complete this much work in such a short amount of time." Miss Goodwitch was currently typing away at her computer, Weiss could only assume she was either documenting the meeting as it was happening or was probably emailing another school faculty member. "five English assignments, ten algebra assignments and a history report on George Washington all on the first week."

"Ruby has been insistent on getting as much work done as possible." Weiss assured, feeling a little proud of Ruby's progress. "Although, I think she's been taking it a bit too far..."

Glynda finally took her eyes off her computer screen, staring at the younger girl in question. "Well, At least she's working hard for once..."

Sitting in her wheelchair beside Weiss was Ruby, sleeping without a care in the world. Weiss couldn't believe Ruby had nodded off during their meeting with Glynda, but she couldn't really blame the poor girl either. The bags under her eyes seemed to have gotten worse as each day passed.

Weiss lightly shook Ruby's shoulder to wake her up. "Ruby, wake up, now is not the time for you to be sle-"

Ruby jolted awake, frantically waving her arms around as if she was in a fight. "B-Back off you stupid...butt ugly...Goblins?" Ruby glanced around the room, rubbing her tired eyes after she remembered where she was. "S-Sorry... W-What were we talking about again?"

Glynda raised an eyebrow at Ruby's usual childish antics. Seeing how exhausted Ruby looked, Glynda figured she had kept the two girls at school long enough. So she got up from her desk and opened her office door for the two students.

"Well, as much as I'd like to talk more about your progress, I think I've kept you two here long enough. I hope you two have a wonderful weekend. And Ruby, please get some sleep, you look awful."

Ruby simply groaned in response. _**'**__Of course I look awful, that's what happens when you can't sleep because of nightmares and you have nothing better to do but either do homework all night or stare at a ceiling until the alarm goes off...'_

"Thank you Miss Goodwitch, we will." Weiss left the Counselor's office with an exhausted looking Ruby in tow.

Ruby was propelling herself slower than usual as her body lacked the energy to keep up with Weiss' prideful stride. After a few seconds, Weiss took notice and slowed down so that she could walk beside Ruby.

"I hate to repeat Glynda but you really do look awful Ruby." Weiss stated as she looked at Ruby through the corner of her eye.

"I-I'm fine...really, I'm always tired by the end of the day. P-Pushing my chair all day is exhausting after all." Ruby lied, pushing her chair is as easy as walking for her...well, as easy as it is for other people.

Weiss rolled her eyes, she knew Ruby was lying but kept it to herself since pushing Ruby to tell the truth would just lead to nowhere good. "If you say so, just make sure to rest up over the weekend, okay?" Ruby simply hummed in response, signaling the end of their conversation.

As Weiss and Ruby made their way down the hall, Weiss began thinking about her relationship with Ruby. In the last couple of days since their little talk in the Library, Weiss had noticed that Ruby has become a bit less shy around her and has even been stuttering less often despite the fact that she was still distant and easily irritated.

However, Weiss still couldn't tell if Ruby considered her to be a friend or not. They haven't really done anything to warrant being called friends and they only really saw each other after school to study. Hell, they've only known each other for about five days. Regardless, Weiss was determined to try to become Ruby's friend.

'_Maybe we could do an activity together, like...like...crap, I still don't know anything about her!_'

Weiss tried her best to think of something, anything that may interest Ruby. everything she thought of was quickly shot down whenever she realized that they might be difficult for the wheelchair bound girl. However, Only one idea came to mind that actually might work and she didn't like it one bit. The only reason she was even considering the idea was because Weiss really wanted to break her record of only having one friend.

Weiss shook her head, it was too risky, what if Ruby declined? She'd probably laugh at her for having such a childish hobby, but then again, Ruby seemed to be a bit childish herself. Weiss frantically searched her memory for any moment where Ruby might have mentioned some small detail about herself that didn't involve school, but nothing came to mind.

Weiss cursed herself for not asking Ruby again about her interests or hobbies. She had plenty of opportunities to ask but after their argument Monday, Weiss decided that it might be best to not ask again until Ruby seemed more comfortable with her, especially since persistently asking was what seemed to have caused Ruby to get angry with her to begin with.

_**'**__Well, I don't think she could be any more comfortable than she is now…__**'**_Weiss thought to herself as she and Ruby reached the school's parking lot. Neither of their rides were here yet, so they waited.

Weiss bit her lower lip, bracing herself for the worst possible outcome. "Hey Ruby, do you by any chance like fantasy? Specifically fantasy themed games?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow, confused by Weiss' sudden question. "Fantasy?"

"Yeah, you know...umm, elves, swords, magic...that sort of stuff." Weiss twiddled with her thumbs, she tried not to look too nervous but she couldn't help it. She was risking a lot by asking this question, what if Ruby spread around a rumor about Weiss and her hobbies?

Ruby suddenly felt anxious, did Weiss somehow know her secret or was she just making small talk? "Oh, w-what about it?"

Weiss fumbled with her thoughts, unsure if she should go through with this. _**'**__At leas__**t**__ she isn't shrugging it off like last time...__**'**_ Weiss cleared her throat, ready to speak. "Well, umm...I just...I was…" Weiss paused, taking a deep breath as she tried to collect her words properly.

Ruby silently tapped her finger on the armrest of her wheelchair as she sat beside Weiss and waited patiently as she watched her compose herself. It was actually kind of odd seeing the ever so proud and confident Weiss Schnee be so nervous and at a loss for words.

After a few seconds, Weiss finally collected her thoughts but still feared the answer Ruby might give. "I-I was wondering if you'd be interested in playing an online game with me, s-specifically Beacons of Remnant."

A thousand questions had suddenly bombarded Ruby's brain, the last thing she would have expected Weiss to be was a gamer.

'_She's not talking about the same_ game_, is she? Oh who am I kidding, there's only one virtual reality MMO at the moment, what other Beacons of Remnant could she possible be talking about... Wait, Weiss is friends with Pyrrha isn't she? so of course she plays Beacon of Remnants with her...hold on, if she plays with Pyrrha, than shouldn't I have met Weiss already and...wait a minute..." _

Ruby blinked a few times as she continued to stare up at Weiss , her brain running through a series of theories and questions in her head. Each one making more sense the more she thought about them.

Weiss, however, couldn't help but feel impatient and a little creeped out as Ruby remained silent while staring up at her. The longer she waited the more anxious she became. "W-Well? Do you want to or not?"

'_No, she's definitely not Myrtenaster...never, not in a million years...I don't care if their voices are alike, that would be way too weird and if it were true, then I made a fool of myself in front of Myrtenaster on Monday!_'

Ruby quickly shook her head to rid herself of the horrifying thought of Weiss and Myrtenaster being one in the same. It was jut too weird and embarrassing for her.

Weiss, upon seeing Ruby shake her head, frowned at the sight as she mistaken it for Ruby's answer. "R-Right...I didn't think you would…"

Ruby looked back at Weiss, confused once again. "Excuse me?"

"Your answer, I understand if you don't want to play a game with me…"

"What? I didn't asnwer ye-ooohh! No no no, I wasn't shaking my head to say no, I was just...never mind that, I was just being weird. don't actually mind playing a game or something, I just, umm…" Ruby trailed off, she had no idea where she was going with her potentially endless rambling. She was too tired to think correctly.

Who knew getting only maybe four hours of sleep in three days could cause your brain to turn to mush.

However, Weiss suddenly came to a realization of her own after listening to Ruby's ramblings.

"Of course! I'm so stupid. You probably don't even have a FRVR system. I'm really sorry, I tend to forget how expensive some things are for other people... If that's the problem, I can easily buy you one, with no strings attached of course." Weiss smiled eagerly at Ruby, hoping Ruby wouldn't mind it if she gave her something so expensive. Well, expensive for Ruby, not herself.

"T-that's not really necessary…" Ruby muttered, she wasn't entirely hooked on the idea of playing a virtual reality game with Weiss. She's never even played one with someone she knew in the real world. Well, other than Pyrrha, Nora and Ren but those were different situations entirely, or at least that's what she tells herself.

On the other hand, it'd probably be kind of fun to play a game with someone else for a change. Weiss definitely wasn't Myrtenaster, so this was her chance to maybe make a new friend. Then again, the thought of Weiss being Myrtenaster lingered and nagged at her in the back of her mind and she really didn't know how to feel about that horrifying possibility.

"I-I mean...I-I kinda already have one. You don't have to go and buy one for me..."

Weiss was starting to get really confused by Ruby's sudden nervousness. "Really? Then what's the problem?"

Upon hearing the question, Ruby couldn't help but think that Weiss sounded like Myrtenaster for a moment.

"T-There is no problem, I-I wouldn't mind playing a game with you. In fact, I already own a copy of Beacon of Remnant..." Ruby trailed off, realizing what it was that she just said. She was only speaking out of instinct, just like how she did with her online friends. She wasn't planning to say yes. How did she get so comfortable that she let her guard down like that?

It was the lack of sleep, it had to be. The consequences of not sleeping for so long was finally catching up to her. Ruby cursed herself for being so reckless as she began panicking internally. However, before she could change her answer, Weiss was already writing something down on a piece of paper that she had ripped out of her notebook.

"Wonderful! Here, this is my character's name. Oh, I should probably give you my number too just in case." Weiss quickly wrote down her information on the paper and handed it to Ruby, who reluctantly accepted it.

Weiss did everything she could to keep herself under control. Truth be told, she was squealing like a schoolgirl on the inside. Pyrrha would be so proud to hear that she was able to invite Ruby to play with them.

"If you want, we can play tomorrow. Pyrrha would be thrilled to have another person to play with us too." Weiss's eyes drifted past Ruby and noticed her family's limo. "Oh, there's my ride. I'll see you later Ruby!"

Weiss couldn't stop smiling as she walked over to the limo. She was so proud of herself, it was an important milestone for her as she was finally able to get close enough to someone to ask them to hang out with her. She couldn't believe how happy she was, it took every fiber of her being to fight off the urge to skip in her 3-inch heels. And besides, a Schnee never skips.

Ruby however, was stuck staring at the paper she was just given. She kept reading it over and over again. She refused to believe it despite being right there in front of her face. On the paper, written in perfect cursive was the name "Myrtenaster", followed by Weiss' phone number.

Ruby hung her head back to stare up at the sky. A storm cloud was slowly forming over her, almost as if to mock the stress and chaos that found it's way into her life.

"You really like putting me into stressful situations, don't you?" she muttered to whatever being that seemed to toy with her very existence. Ruby closed her eyes as the whole week's exhaustion suddenly hit her like a truck. This week has been way too hectic for her, Ruby's brain was officially fried.

"Hey, Rubes. It's gonna rain soon, are you getting in the truck or what?"

Ruby didn't even notice Yang walking up to her. She was too busy trying to find some way out of the situation she found herself in regards to Weiss.

"Ruby, you okay?"

Ruby slowly looked at Yang, exhaustion consuming her. She slid the paper that Weiss gave her into her pocket. "Yeah, I'm fine...I think I'm gonna take a nap when we get home, I haven't been sleeping too well..."

Yang bent over to get a better look at Ruby's face. "Damn Rubes, you look like a zombie with all those bags under your eyes. Anyways, lets get going." Yang slowly walked behind Ruby to push her to the truck. However, she stopped just before she could grab the push handles. "S-Sorry, I was just-"

"Yang." Ruby said abruptly.

Yang winced, fearing that her sister would complain again. "yeah?"

Ruby could just barely keep her eyes open at this point. She remembered the conversation she had with her father Monday night. She really didn't want to give in and let Yang help her but Ruby didn't have a choice, she didn't even have the energy to complain at the moment.

"You can push me just this once...b-but only because I'm so exhausted, okay?"

"Really? Are you sure?" Yang hesitantly grabbed the push handles, expecting Ruby to change her mind.

Ruby let out an exasperated sigh, maybe she shouldn't have been so harsh on her sister for only trying to help. Swallowing her pride, she hung her head back to look up at her sister, giving her an upside down view of Yang's face.

"I'm positive."

Yang stared into Ruby's eyes, trying to find any hint of trickery. However, all she saw were bags under Ruby's eyes and the exhausted expression that she was wearing.

"Don't worry about a thing, Rubes. you can count on me!" Yang Chirped, happy to finally get the chance to help her baby sister. Yang eagerly pushed Ruby to her truck, humming her favorite song along the way.

Ruby lazily rolled her eyes, unable to hold back a smile. Yang was always so eager to help her, it almost made Ruby feel bad for pushing her away so often...well, almost. Ruby still desired nothing short of independence, she was just too exhausted to argue with her older sister at the moment.

"Okay Ruby, we're here!" Yang chirped as she parked her sister beside the passenger side door of her truck. However, Ruby was silent. "Ruby?"

Yang looked over her sister's shoulder, only to find Ruby's eyes closed and her head tilted downward. Ruby had fallen right to sleep with strands of her long black hair falling ever so slightly over her eyes. Ruby's childlike features showed on her sleeping face and her soft breathing made the world around her seem to stand still.

Yang smiled softly at the sight, she rarely got to see Ruby look so at peace with everything. After opening the passenger door, she lifted Ruby bridal style and gently set her into the passenger seat and strapped her in with the seat belt. Yang kissed the top of her sister's head before closing the passenger door.

"Sleep tight, Rubes."

Weiss felt absolutely ecstatic, she couldn't wait to tell Pyrrha her good news. The first thing she wanted to do when she got home was go straight to her room and log into Beacons of Remnant Online. However, the moment she walked through the front door of her home, she was stopped by her mother, Willow Schnee, who had just gotten off the phone when Weiss got home.

Willow had a bright smile when she saw Weiss walk through the door. "Weiss, you're finally home. I have some wonderf-"

"Not now, Mother. I'm in a hurry and I have some important things I need to take care of." Weiss walked as fast as she could past her mother and towards the stairs to the second floor, eager to get to her room.

"Weiss Schnee! You will stop and speak with your mother, right now." Willow's voice was stern and commanding, her subtle German accent slipping out and making every word twice as threatening.

Weiss froze on the spot, rolling her eyes before she turned around and made her way back to her mother. "Yes, mother?"

"I just got off the phone with your sister, Winter and I have some Wonderful news, your sister will be coming home from overseas."

"Weiss clasped her hands together in joy, its been several years since she last saw her older sister. "Really!? Oh I can't wait!"

"Yes, she said she should be here by the end of next week... I just hope your father doesn't get into an argument with her again..." Willow frowned as she recalled the last time Winter came back home.

Weiss held her mother's hands in her own in an attempt to cheer her up. "Don't worry, I'm sure father will hold his tongue after what happened last time."

Willow sighed, glad that Weiss was more optimistic than she was. "I suppose so...anyways, you can go ahead and do whatever it is that you need to do, just don't be late for dinner in a few hours."

"I won't." Weiss assured as she raced up the stairs to her room.

Willow watched her daughter run up the stairs and out of view. "I swear, that girl needs to find some friends to play with, she spends way too much time studying..."

The second Weiss entered her room she threw off her backpack and immediately got undressed and took the black Relaysuit out of her closet. Weiss slipped into the suit in front of her full-size mirror, checked herself over and was just about to head over to her bed, but a sudden thought crossed her mind.

She went back over to the mirror and began thinking about her avatar's hair style and seriously started pondering whether or not she should actually try it, without the light blue color of course. She certainly had the hair length to pull off such a pony tail. She began to run her hands through her hair, trying to style it into the off-center ponytail that her avatar had as she held it up with her hand.

"hmm, not bad...but simple scrunchies or hairbands isn't gonna cut it, I need something more stylish...hmm...Whatever, I'll deal with that later, right now I need to tell Pyrrha the good news!" Weiss practically squealed the latter half, she was just too excited.

After finally zipping up her suit, she strapped the helmet on and got into bed. "Game start." Weiss commanded and not a second sooner, her body was slowly consumed by numbness and found herself flung into the world of Beacon of Remnants where she spawned just outside the Inn that she and her friends frequently hang out at.

Weiss was just about to swipe her finger across the air to summon her friends list when someone snuck up behind her and lifted her into the air.

"Come on Myrtenaster, we need you're help!" It was Boop, already running with Weiss thrown over her shoulder like a child. Being so much shorter than the pink haired brute didn't help with Weiss' sudden embarrassment either.

"Boop!? Put me down this instant! I'm not some toy that you can run off and play with!" Weiss whined, flailing he legs and arms in the air, hitting Boop's back with her fists in the process.

Boop laughed as she ran through the streets of Vytal, carrying the flailing blue haired mage without a care in the world. "Well with your small size, you might as well be a toy anyway!"

"Hey! I'm not small!" Wiess pouted as she puffed out her cheeks. She really, really hated it when people took advantage of her size like this.

Boop giggled, she enjoyed teasing Myrtenaster for her size. The shorter girl's reactions were always priceless. "I'll admit, you're certainly not the smallest girl I've met, that honor goes to a little mute brat that I have the misery of knowing."

Weiss only felt a little better hearing that, but that didn't stop her from continuing to flail her legs and arms in an attempt to free herself. "Just put me down Boop or I'll make your life a living hell!"

Without a second thought, Boop finally dropped Weiss onto the ground with Weiss landing on her butt. Boop had already brought Weiss where she wanted to take her anyway, directly outside the city.

"Look who I found, Ren! With Myrtenaster here, there will be three of us! Now we should be able to get Crescent's costume in no time!"

Ren was leaning on a tree near the city's gate, waiting the entire time. "Boop..."

"yes Ren?" Boop respond innocently.

"I don't think one more person is gonna make that much of a difference."

Weiss got herself off the ground, dusting the rear of her mage robes off with her hands. "Okay, will someone please explain to me what is going on?"

"We're getting Crescent's costume! Don't you remember the bet she lost last week?"

Weiss simply stared at Boop, her expression was a mix of boredom and seriousness. "And why do you need _my_ help, exactly?"

Ren walked up to the two girls and brought up a menu panel showing a series of event quests. "The costume Boop wants to get for Crescent is a prize for one of the Halloween events this year, we need to complete a series of quests where each quest gives a piece of the costume. There were other costumes that we could have just bought from the online store but Boop insisted on this one, which can only be acquired by doing these quests."

Boop wrapped her arm around Ren's shoulders, wearing the biggest grin she could possibly have. "C'mon, you know this costume is perfect for her, it practically screams Ru-I mean, Crescent! and besides, you know just as much as I do that she would absolutely love it despite how much she'll try to deny it." Boop glanced over at Weiss, hoping she didn't notice her near slip up.

Ren let out an exasperated sigh but smiled nonetheless. "Alright, are you in Myrtenaster?"

Weiss stared at Boop for a moment, wondering what she was about to call Crescent before stopping herself, but Weiss decided to ignore it and chalk it up to Boop's hyperactive personality. Weiss thought about the proposition for a moment, she opened her friends list to see who else is online but sadly, it was only her and the Stormflower couple for the time being. With an annoyed groan, she finally responded "Let me see the costume."

Ren passed the event panel over to Weiss. The moment Weiss saw the picture of the costume on the event page, she knew she had to see Crescent in it, no scratch that, she _must_ see Crescent in the costume. A devious smile began to form as she imagined Crescent in it.

"Ren..."

"yes, Myrtenaster?"

We _have_ to get this costume or we will die trying."

"A little over dramatic don't you think?" Ren asked.

Boop rolled her eyes. "oh Ren, you never underestimate the determination of a girl in love."

Weiss furrowed her brows and glared at Boop, trying her best to ignore the blush forming on her face "I am not in love with Crescent!"

"Keep telling yourself that~!" Boop sung as she began walking in the direction of the first quest with a nonchalant Ren in tow, followed by an annoyed Weiss who was grumbling to herself.

There were four quest total for the trio to complete, the first quest they decided to do seemed to be the easiest as well as the closest. When Weiss, Ren, and Boop got to the area that the first quest was in about a kilometer away from Vytal City, they were greeted by the sight of open farmland where dozens of players were running around, fighting 7 foot tall pumpkin monsters with bodies made of roots and vines. The farm itself seemed to be growing pumpkins and the farmhouse was decorated appropriately for Halloween.

"Don't you think this is a little too...on the nose?" Weiss asked to no one in particular.

"Don't be silly, it's a Halloween event. Halloween is always like this!" Boop chirped.

Weiss frowned, letting her shoulders fall as she realized she had quite the boring childhood. "I wouldn't know...I've never celebrated it."

Boop clasped her hands to her cheeks, her jaw dropping like a brick. "what!? You never celebrated Halloween before!? What rock have you been hiding under!?"

Weiss simply shrugged, she didn't really have much of an excuse other than her parents. "A have a pretty boring childhood with strict and busy parents. My family isn't exactly…fun, so to speak."

Ren placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "It's never too late to start celebrating."

"Yeah! Think of this as a trip to a great pumpkin patch!" Boop cheered as she unsheathed her hammer from her back, ready to start their quest. "Usually you go to one with your family, but I think Ren and I are old enough to be your guardians for a day!"

Weiss slowly shook her head and smiled, how did she ever become friends with such an eccentric couple? Weiss summoned her Snow Angel staff and readied herself to jump into action. "So, we just got to kill a hundred of these Pumpkin Gigas for the reward, right?"

"Technically, we just need to collect their heads and return them to the farm's owner. But yes, we need to kill them to collect their heads." Ren explained, flourishing his twin daggers.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go wreck a pumpkin patch!" Boop wasted no time as she immediately charged into a crowed of six Pumpkin Gigas and began to agro them, luring them towards Weiss and Ren.

"Myrtenaster, you're up!" Boop Hollered as she smashed one of the monsters' head into the ground with her mighty hammer, leaving five to remain chasing her. The Pumpkin Gigas weren't too tough as Boop was able to take them out with a couple of swings of her hammer.

Weiss placed her staff into the ground, summoning a massive glyph that surrounded the agroed group of Pumpkin Gigas, freezing there legs to the ground. Ren then jumped in with his daggers along side Boop and the Stormflower couple slaughtered them as quickly as possible.

"That's six down, ninety-four to go." Ren said as he crouched down to collect the pumpkin heads. However, a light green glyph appeared on the ground below each head and sent the heads flying into the air in an arc.

The trio watched the pumpkin heads fly over to another female player. From the distance, Weiss couldn't see her face too well but could tell that her skin was the color of mocha and she had short jade colored hair. What irritated Weiss even more was the fact that, instead of a simple mage robe, She was wearing a light green and white robe that actually opened up at the lower half, revealing a short skirt and knee high boots. She wielded a wooden staff with a large emerald sitting at the top.

The girl quickly snatched up the pumpkins, sending them into her inventory. The girl wore a cocky smirk the entire time.

"Thanks for doing the hard work for me, losers!" the mysterious girl said as she then stuck out her tongue before running off to another male player with violet hair who was fighting several of the Pumpkin Gigas all by himself. "Hey Talaria! I got another five heads!"

Weiss was beyond furious as she pointed her staff at the mysterious girl. "What the hell was that!? Please don't tell me that she can actually do that!"

Boop walked up beside Weiss, looking just as mad as the blue haired mage. "Sadly, she can...the quest says you have to collect the heads, it doesn't state that it's required to kill them first..."

Weiss stomped her foot on the ground, fuming as she glared daggers at the mysterious girl in the distance. "Who the hell does she think she is?!"

Ren chimed in with an answer. "Morgiana, she's a level forty Illusionist Mage. She's also a member of a guild called Crimson Fall, we don't get along with them very well."

Weiss tilted her head, she's been playing this game for about a month and no one bothered telling her this? Well, to be fair, she may of known her friends for a month, but she spent even less time with them thanks to school. Regardless however, What is with this guild and not telling anyone anything? But more importantly...

"An Illusionist Mage? What's that?"

"It's one of the two advanced specialties to the default Mage role. The other being the Summoner Mage. You can choose a specialty once your level thirty." Ren explained.

Weiss' eyes widened. "thirty!? I won't reach that for another month or so with my current schedule..."

Boop suddenly began twirling her hammer as she started walking towards another group of Pumpkin Gigas "Come on guys! Less chit chat, more pumpkin smashing! We can still get the hundred heads in no time, we just gotta agro them like the last group. Piece of Cake!"

The trio began the process all over again with much more success of farming Pumpkin Heads this time around, although, the green haired mage, Morgiana, would steal some heads from them every now and then, always running off before they could confront her. It took about two hours just to collect all one hundred pumpkin heads, much longer than Weiss would have liked. All because of a dirty thief of a mage named Morgiana.

"Alright, lets go to the next quest!" Boop cheered as she waved around the quest reward, a neatly woven basket.

"As much as I'd like to continue, I have to join my family for dinner..." Weiss frowned at the thought of having to leave her friends after just the first quest.

"Hey, don't worry about it, we understand. Family comes first after all." Boop assured with a big smile as she rested her hammer on her shoulder.

"Right...family." Weiss muttered quietly to herself. "Well, I should be back on after dinner. See you guys later." Weiss waved the Stormflower couple goodbye before logging off.

Boop's smile quickly turned to a frown once Weiss was gone. "Hey Ren?"

"hmm?" Ren was currently looking at the map interface to find the next quest.

"Do you think that Myrtenaster may not like her family?"

"what makes you say that?" Ren finally found the next quest and placed a marker on the map.

"I don't know, she just seems sad whenever her family was mentioned. Only reason I didn't bring it up was because Pyrrha told me that Myrtenaster is the type of player who doesn't share their real life with others too easily."

Ren simply shrugged as he accepted the next quest and closed the interface panel. "I'm sure she's fine, everyone has family issues to some degree."

Once Weiss logged off and returned to the real world, she took a shower and changed into a formal dress. It wasn't really that she needed a shower, Weiss just didn't want to give her father any reason to complain. He always was a neat freak, sometimes it made Weiss wonder if he had some form of OCD or something, except it only seemed to apply to his children and nothing else.

When she got to the dining room, Weiss was glad to see that she wasn't late for dinner. So far, her little brother and her mother were the only ones in the room. At least her father wasn't here to complain that she was the last to show up. Again...

Weiss promptly sat in her seat next to her little brother, who was sipping away at a small cup of coffee while on his phone. Her mother on the other hand was drinking tea from an equally small cup.

"Weiss, it's nice for you to come to dinner early for once." Willow sipped her tea, looking as elegant as a queen.

"Sorry Mother, I've been really busy with studying all week, especially now that I'm tutoring someone again." Weiss set her hands on her lap, her body remembering years of social etiquette being drilled into her brain.

"Oh, that reminds me, I've been meaning to ask how the tutoring is going. The last time you tutored someone, you complained about it non-stop."

"Please, don't remind me of that rapscallion. He never took anything seriously."

Willow smirked behind her tea cup. "Well, what makes this current student different?'

"what makes her different? Umm...well, she's..." Weiss paused for a moment, it was at this moment that she realized she really, really didn't know anything about Ruby as a person. Sure she knew she was smart, has a sister like herself, is in a wheelchair...but what made Ruby, well, Ruby? What were her hobbies, favorite music, what about movies?

"She's...smart? She apparently skipped two grades before going to Beacon. In fact, now that I think about it, She and Whitley should be the same age."

"Oh? Skipping two grades is quite the achievement, why does she need a tutor if-"

"Sorry, I'm late. The meeting at the office took longer than anticipated." Weiss' father finally returned home and practically took full control of the room the moment he entered. After taking his seat, he looked around the table, wearing a casual smile. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Oh, We were just talking about the student Weiss is tutoring at school. Apparently she has skipped two grades before going to Vale Academy."

"Oh really? If she is so accomplished, why does she need help with her grades?" Jacques smile never faulted. But Weiss knew that smug tone anywhere, he was being cocky and, if Weiss' theory about her father is correct, possible jealous that one of his own children hadn't done the same and skipped a grade or two.

"I was just about to ask that myself, Dear. Well Weiss?" Both parents looked towards Weiss, causing her to want to sink into the floor and never return.

"W-Well...from what I understand, she had been neglecting her studies for some reason and Ozpin-"

"Ozpin, of course he's involved." Jacques scoffed at the name. "Let me guess, he felt bad for the poor girl and decided to get his best student to tutor her, does that sound about right?"

"Yes, father..." he maybe have been right, but Weiss had a feeling that the reason Ozpin was helping Ruby wasn't entirely because of pity.

Willow chimed in. "Jacques, Dear, don't you think you're being a bit harsh on the girl? You haven't even met her, I'm sure there's a reason that has caused, umm...Weiss, what was the girl's name again?"

Weiss froze for a moment, feeling a bit uncomfortable with sharing Ruby's name. "R-Ruby Rose..."

Whitley choked on his coffee, looking surprised at Weiss "You're tutoring Ruby Rose?!"

"Whitley, You know her?"

"Of course I know her, I had the misfortune of being in the same class as her in 5th and 6th grade in elementary school. She always had better grades than I did for those two years..." Whitley took a sip of his coffee and chuckled. "I was actually wondering if it was luck that got her out of my hair. Turns out it was her own luck though."

Weiss was about to argue with her brother but her father cut her off.

"I guess she ran out of luck then. Perhaps skipping two grades is too much for her."

The family went silent as the family butler, Klein, entered the room with a food cart carrying several trays of food, ranging from mashed potatoes, lobster, and even some wine for the eldest Schnees.

Luckily, the rest of dinner went by rather peacefully. Weiss' father asked about her and Whitley's grades as usual, he even asked if her tutoring was affecting her studying which she assured wasn't a problem. Weiss just hoped that a certain conversation between her parents didn't occur, one she knew her father wasn't going to be fond of having.

But alas, Weiss' home life never seems to go that smoothly for her.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Dear, Winter called earlier, she said she'll be returning home next weekend. We'll finally get to have a dinner with the whole family again." Willow sounded Eager, but Weiss knew that deep down her mother was just as nervous as she was. Hell, even Whitley was nervous.

Jacques was silent for a while before putting down his silverware. "I see. Did she say how long she'll be staying?"

"I'm afraid she doesn't know, you know how demanding her career in the military is...I really do hope she'll stay longer than a few days this time..." Willow solemnly stared at her food, she really missed her eldest daughter.

"Well, If you'll excuse me, I just remembered that I have some business to take care of before turning in for the night. " Jacques rose from his seat and walked over to his wife and kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room.

Once her husband was out of the room, Willow spoke up but remained quiet. "That went better than I thought it did..."

"I told you, father isn't gonna cause any problems when it comes to Winter." Weiss assured

Whitley however, wasn't as optimistic. "I suggest we wait and see when Winter actually does arrive, celebrating early could jinx it you know."

Everyone went silent for a moment before Weiss remembered that she told Ren and Boop that she'd be online after dinner.

"I'm going to head to bed early. There's some homework due next week that I'd like to get a head start on this weekend."

"Of course, sweetie." Willow wasn't one to question her children's decisions, they were all quite independent after all. Although it did take the joy out of raising them.

By the time Weiss got back to her room and logged into Beacons of remnant, it was already getting late. Dinner took longer than she had expected and so there was only an hour left to play before she should go to bed. Regardless, Weiss was determined to spend her last hour helping the Stormflower couple with whatever is left of their quest to get Crescent's costume.

When Weiss met up with Ren and Boop in Forever Fall Forest, slaying beowolves as part of another quest, she was surprised to see Pyrrha with them as well. Usually if Pyrrha wasn't online during the day, she wouldn't bother coming online later at night either. Regardless, It was the perfect moment to tell Pyrrha the good news about Ruby.

"Pyrrha! I'm so glad you're online. I have great news!" Weiss couldn't help but have a huge smile across her face as she ran up to the red haired elf.

Pyrrha sliced the head off a beowolf before greeting Weiss. "Well, that makes two of us."

"Really? You go first then."

"Alright, if you insist." Pyrrha sheathed her sword. "We'll be having a new player joining us tomorrow, which means we'll finally have the seven people needed to form a guild! Isn't that wonderful?"

"huh? I thought we were already a guild?"

"What? No. Didn't Crescent explain everything to you last month?"

It was at this moment, Weiss realized why she felt so out of the loop when it came to important information. Crescent didn't do her job right on the day they met. To say Weiss was annoyed with Crescent would be the understatement of the year.

Tomorrow couldn't arrive any sooner.


	8. Identity Fiasco Part 1

Blake was beyond nervous. Now that she thought about it, hooking herself up to a gaming system sounded like an outlandish idea for something as simple as trying to confirm if her girlfriend's sister is living a secret double life online. Yep, completely ridiculous. Yet here she was, wearing a super tight, form fitting suit in her bathroom and questioning her relationship goals with her girlfriend.

"Blake, come on out already. I'm sure you look great!" Yang called out from outside the bathroom.

"Just a sec!" Blake looked at herself one more time in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. She didn't really like how form fitting it was, especially around her butt. Blake could already hear all the flirting and catcalling she'll receive from Yang.

With a long deep breath, Blake stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway of her home, with Yang standing right outside the door. Yang whistled at the sight of her girlfriend. Blake rolled her eyes and ignored Yang as she walked down the hall a few steps and entered her bedroom. Yang was quick to follow after her.

"Damn, Blake. You didn't tell me it looked so good on you." Yang teased as she closed the bedroom door behind her and wrapped her arms around Blake.

Blake smiled and placed her hands on Yang's, just over her belly. "Don't get any funny ideas, I still need to get this ludicrously complicated plan done and over with."

Yang took a step back to allow Blake to face her. "Oh c'mon, it's not that complicated. You just need to hop into the game, meet up with Pyrrha, hang out with her and her friends and find out if Ruby really is this Crescent girl like Pyrrha suspects. As easy as baking a cake."

"Do you even know how to bake a cake?"

"Blake, Who do you think cooks Ruby's birthday cake for the last six years?"

"Gee, I wouldn't know since I've yet to attend Ruby's birthday."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You're coming to Ruby's birthday party in a couple of weeks, right? Please? I know she isn't the most social person in the world right now but it would mean a lot to me." Yang looked at Blake with hopeful lilac eyes. Blake knew Yang well enough to know that she wasn't putting up a front. Yang really was pleading for her to attend.

"Of course, you don't need to beg, Yang. But…What kind of gift should I bring? It's not like I know her that well..."

"Hmm...How about a book? She used to love reading. Although, whether she still does, I'm not so sure..."

Blake thought it over for a moment, she had plenty of books she owned that she had completed long ago, she could easily get rid of a few. But there is no guarantee Ruby would even like the gift.

She let out a weak chuckle. "Well, if push comes to shove, I could always give her a gift card."

Yang laughed, that same laugh that Blake absolutely loved. It was like a hot solar flare, so bright and full of energy. "I'm sure you'll think of something by halloween."

Blake smirked at her girlfriend before putting the helmet on her head. "We'll see. Anyway, are you sure you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"Yep, I got a whole shelf of books to read if I get bored." Yang gestured towards Blake's bookshelf beside her before sitting down in a beanbag chair.

"Yeah, but I feel kind of bad for going in without you. I mean, she is your sister after all..."

"I know, but we could only afford one set with our combined allowances. Not to mention that she'd recognize my voice the moment I opened my mouth and lets face it, I wouldn't be able to shut up long enough to hide my identity from her."

Blake giggled, she couldn't even imagine Yang trying to be mute for even a second."Fair enough. Well, I guess I better go online now, I don't want to keep Pyrrha waiting."

"Good luck!" Yang shot a thumbs up at Blake who returned the gesture before lying down in her bed.

Blake took a deep breath to brace herself. If she was being honest, she was actually kind of nervous, she wasn't exactly tech-savvy. She preferred books over video games or TV any day of the week. Yet here she was, hooked up to a suit that reads her vitals and brain signals as if she was in the hospital. All for the sake of helping her girlfriend.

'Ah, the things people do for love...' Blake thought to herself as she finally relaxed. "Game start." she quietly commanded and almost immediately she started to feel numb. Blake had to remind herself that it was normal and that there was nothing to worry about, but the nagging feeling of something going wrong was always there, hiding away in the back of her mind. It didn't take long before she drifted off into the virtual world.

Left alone in Blake's room, Yang's smile turned to a frown as she reached for a random book from the bottom shelf.

"I really hope you know how much this means to me Blake...because you're the best girlfriend I could ever ask for. I..." Yang gently pressed the book against her forehead, silently cursing herself for not saying it before Blake left.

"Why didn't I tell her that? Why couldn't I say those three simple words?" Yang shook her head before placing the book on her lap and finally saw the title.

"Ninjas of Love, huh?...well, it's gotta be better than the last book I read."

* * *

After a few seconds, Blake found herself in a void of pure white. It didn't last long however as a room faded into existence. There was a bed in the center and a mirror in the corner. Inside the room, Blake was a bit confused as it took her a moment to realize she was in the game, everything looked pretty close to the real deal. She also wasn't expecting how real her digital body felt and how well it responded to her. She walked over to the mirror and saw that she had short silver hair and green eyes. She was also wearing a simple white button up shirt and brown trousers, topped off with leather boots.

In front of the mirror was the character customization interface with panels indicating various different colors and styles for hair, eyes, and skin. There were even three tabs for the three different races in the game: Human, Elf, and Faunus. Blake knew what an Elf was, obviously, but what the heck was a Faunus? She hesitantly touched the holographic tab for Faunus and looked back up at the mirror. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what she saw.

Atop her head were a pair of antlers. At first she didn't know what to think as she stared at them. Eventually, curiosity got the better of her and she reached for one of them, surprising herself with how real they felt. Suddenly, she felt a weird sensation just above her butt, as if a muscle near her tailbone twitched. Blake twisted her body so she could see her butt in the mirror. Her jaw nearly hit the floor.

She had a little puffy deer tail. Blake couldn't believe it, she had a god damn tail and she could feel it, as if it was always connected to her body.

"Okay... this is really, really weird."

Blake looked back at the interface and was about to switch back to Human, but she stopped when she saw a new row of customization options, there were several different animal traits to choose from now.

"Well, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat."

Blake swiped through the many options until she found what she was looking for. She clicked on her desired traits. A pair of cat ears that matched the silver hair color, along with a silver cat tail.

Blake decided to keep things simple with her character's looks. By the end of it, she had long purple hair with matching cat ears and tail, completed with eyes that were golden yellow. In short, she simply made herself look like her real self but with purple hair and also cat ears and a tail. She should really make herself look a little more different maybe, but she couldn't bring herself to like any of the other hairstyles.

After double checking her results, she finalized the options and a door appeared on one of the walls. After a quick but deep breath, Blake walked through the door and was nearly blinded by the sunlight.

_" Uncle Qrow, are we there yet?"_

_" Of course not Ruby, we still got a few hours of driving ahead of us."_

_Ruby groaned in response, staring at the countryside through her window was starting to get boring._

_" Hey Ruby, how about we play I Spy to pass the time?" A sweet and warm voice came from the passenger seat in front of her._

_She stared at the back of the seat for a moment. There was a mostly empty glass bottle of her Uncle's alcohol sitting in the pocket that was built into the back of the seat._

_" Okay!" she cheered with her fists in the air. She always enjoyed playing games. Sure it wasn't a video game but as long as it was with her mother, she didn't care._

_" hmm, I spy with my little eye...something that is red and wet."_

_Ruby looked out the window but didn't see anything that was red or anything remotely wet as it hadn't rained for days, just endless farmland and not a single barn in sight. She turned to face the seat and was about to complain but stopped herself when she saw a crimson stain with three holes in the center, right on the back of the passenger seat where a bottle of alcohol was supposed to be, except it was gone. The stain seemed to grow bigger as it spread and dripped downward towards the floor._

_She suddenly felt weak as a warm dampness pooled around her belly and legs. She looked down and found a similar stain with three holes on her black sundress, right over her belly. She also found the shattered remains of the glass bottle, shards of various sizes of glass protruded from her upper thighs and the bottom half of her sundress._

_Ruby felt weak and dizzy and felt a dull pain in her back and stomach. Sirens sounded in the distance and grew louder and louder with each passing second._

_"Ruby, you're going to be ok. You gotta stay awake for me, Ruby." Uncle Qrow's voice was distant as it echoed in Ruby's head. "No, No! I'm fine, save my niece first, damn it!"_

_" M-Mo...M-M-Mom..." Ruby couldn't even hear her own voice as the sirens started to flood into her ears. She wanted to cry out, but she couldn't. Everything was becoming blurry as the sound of the sirens drowned out any other noise and a pool of blood began to rise from the car floor and above her legs, rising higher and higher as it slowly engulfed her entire body._

Ruby jolted awake, staring up at the ceiling,and covered in sweat. Another nightmare, another soaked bed. She slowly sat up while leaning back on her shaking hands. Ruby panted as she looked around the room, her room. When did she get home? What day was it? And who the hell changed her into her pajama pants and tank top? Ruby kept asking those questions over and over and over again, keeping her mind busy and away from any lingering thoughts on the nightmare before it had the chance to affect her.

After about a minute, She felt in control again and some memories of yesterday returned, answering all her questions. However, her nose crinkled up as a horrible but familiar smell invaded her nostrils and a warm dampness could be felt on the bed sheets. With a loud groan and a roll of her eyes, she peaked underneath her blanket as she feared the worst.

"God damn it..."

Her fears were proven true. She thought that she was over this. It had been years since the last time a nightmare was this bad. Now she needed a shower, badly, and to make matters worse she really didn't want to stain her wheelchair trying to get to the bathroom. Ruby threw the blankets off her and dragged herself to the edge of her bed.

"Okay." She took several deep breaths. "Just like the last time this happened..."

Ruby grabbed her legs by the sleeves of her pajamas, grimacing when her hand became warm and a little wet. she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and landed her feet on the polished wooden floor. For a split second, she imagined her feet feeling cold but quickly shook that thought away.

Ruby looked up in front of her. Her personal bathroom was right there, just five feet away. All she had to do was drop herself down on her butt and then drag herself to the bathroom, no big deal, she used to do this all the time in the first couple of months after coming home from the hospital with recurring nightmares. Sure it was over a year ago, but it wasn't that bad.

It was actually the most depressing and awkward thing she ever did in her life.

With a heavy sigh, Ruby placed her hands on the edge of the bed, briefly lifting herself off the bed and onto the floor. She then proceeded to drag herself towards the bathroom. The trek to the bathroom was a lot slower than she remembered, it felt like minutes instead of seconds were passing by just for her to move five feet. Once in the bathroom, she removed her damp and soiled clothes and propped herself into the shower and onto the bench inside. She vigorously washed the horrible, smelly fluid off her body as shame slowly filled her thoughts. All she could think about was how to explain this mess to her father. God it was gonna be so awkward. She's gonna be fifteen in three weeks and yet she wet the bed, all because of that stupid nightmare.

After her shower, Ruby ran into a problem. She forgot to grab spare clothes before heading into the bathroom, though, how she would have carried them while dragging herself, she didn't know. But she certainly wished she had tried. With another loud and irritated groan, she pulled herself out of the shower and sat on the edge, grabbing a towel to wrap herself in. Now that everything important and private was covered, she dragged herself out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. If anyone were to see her, they'd probably freak out by the sight of someone crawling around on the floor with limp, useless legs trailing behind and wearing nothing but a loose towel to cover their modesty. Ruby imagined that it would probably be a good Halloween prank to pull on her father or Yang and decided to save that idea for later.

Once she got to her wheelchair, she tried lifting herself up but the moment she did, Ruby quickly found her face kissing the floor with a loud thud when her wheelchair rolled away from her... all the way to the other side of her room. With a loud growl, she lifted her head up and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Damn it, Yang! If you're gonna put me to bed, the least you could do is remember to put the brake on the goddamn wheelchair!" Strangely enough, Ruby was met with nothing but silence.

_'For crying out loud, the one time I actually call out to someone, nobody comes...'_

"Yang!" Ruby called out again, only to be met with utter silence again. The reason she didn't call out for her dad was obvious, the last thing she wanted was to be seen laying practically naked on the floor by her own dad. In fact, it was kind of an unwritten rule that if she called out for Yang, it was usually because of reasons like this.

Ruby waited a few minutes to listen for any footsteps that creaked from upstairs or anywhere else in the house. Not a single sound could be heard outside of her own thoughts. She suddenly realized that it was way too quiet. The TV in the living room wasn't on, no muffled talking, no sounds of footsteps throughout the home.

"Yang!?" Ruby called out one more time, this time with more worry than anger. Again, nothing but silence.

"I swear to god, if I'm home alone the one time I actually would like some help..." Ruby began grumbling to herself as she clawed her way towards the Wheelchair once more. Luckily, the wheelchair is against the wall after rolling away from her, making it easier to prop herself up into it. Once in her wheelchair, she quickly glanced at the clock, showing it to be 8:28 AM. By now, Ruby was exhausted and she had only been awake for thirty minutes, what a wonderful way to start her Saturday.

Ruby rolled up to her dresser and put on a spare pajama bottoms and T-shirt, forgoing any underwear as she just wanted to quickly get out of her room and see why the hell no one was responding to her cries for help. Once the door was open, Ruby immediately knew something was wrong. She wasn't being bombarded by the smell of breakfast.

Ruby rolled out of her room faster than she thought was possible, entering the living room only to find it empty and as silent as the rest of the house. However, she spotted a note sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

_{ Good morning, girls. I left to pick up Qrow from the airport. I Should be back around sometime after noon. -Dad_

_P.S. Yang, Don't forget to take out the trash and make sure Ruby eats something, bang on her door if you have to .}_

Ruby rolled her eyes at the idea of Yang banging on her door. It would have been useless if she was online in Beacons of Remnant. "Okay, that explains where dad is, now where the hell is Yang?"

Ruby spun her chair around and looked around the room for any other note that Yang might have left. After searching everywhere on the bottom floor of the house, Ruby gave up and headed back into her room. On the way, she grabbed the empty laundry basket and placed it on her lap. With a bit of effort, she managed to wheel her way to her room with the oversized basket blocking much of her view of the floor in front of her. Once in her room, Ruby set the basket on the floor and collected her soiled bedding and put them into the laundry basket. She made extra careful that she didn't touch the wet spot on her bedding, the last thing she wanted was to waste time taking another shower.

After that, Ruby found her clothes from yesterday and placed them on her lap and took them over to the basket. Just as she was about to toss her sweatpants in, a note slipped out from the pocket and onto her lap.

Ruby picked up the note and read it. Her eyes grew wide as she remembered the events of yesterday. "Crap..." Ruby tossed her dirty clothes into the basket and searched her room for her cellphone, finding it plugged into it's charger on the nightstand.

"Oh, so you can remember to plug my phone in but not set the brake on my chair after sending me to bed? Glad you're priorities are in order, Yang..." She grumbled at a non-existent Yang. Ruby had a few things to say to Yang if she ever got the chance. For all she knew, Yang could be upstairs sleeping or worse, out of the house.

Ruby unplugged her phone and began typing in the number and saved it under "Weiss" and was just about to send a text before realizing she had no idea what to say. She never actually said that she'd play with Weiss, she didn't have to text her or anything. Weiss was just a fellow student that was tutoring her. No, she was also Myrtenaster, a close friend that she just so happened to have a crush on.

Ruby felt her cheeks suddenly grow warm as she realized the situation she was in. "God damn it, why does this have to be so complicated…"

Ruby wasn't sure how to feel about Weiss being Myrtenaster. Weiss seemed caring, yet intimidating and aloof. But when she was Myrtenaster, it was almost as if she was more sociable and free. Sure she was easily irritated at times, but that was mostly because Ruby and Nora liked to tease her for her height.

She had no idea what to do. She didn't want anyone to know she was Crescent. Sure there wasn't really any real reason to keep it a secret, but it was special to her as she didn't have to be the ever so useless, unable to walk Ruby Rose and instead be Crescent, powerful sword wielder and slayer of monsters with no crippling disability.

Ruby bit her lip as she tried to think of a solution. **' **There has to be some way I can go online as Ruby and not...Crescent...That's it ! **'**

Ruby looked back at her phone and sent Weiss a text.

[ **Ruby: **Hey, it's Ruby. When did you want to play Beacons of Remnant?]

While she waited for a reply, Ruby rolled over to her bed and pulled out the box containing her FRVR gear and changed into it, struggling the entire time just as she always does. After a couple minutes of putting the Relaysuit on, the suit felt tighter than it usually did. Prompting her to wheel over to her full size mirror in her bathroom. Upon inspection, the suit seemed to be straining a bit more than it did the last time she put it on, especially around her hips and chest. The worst part was, she didn't even have it zipped up yet.

"Please hold a little longer, I know I've grown over the last two years and I've been stuffing myself full of cookies like an idiot all week but please oh please just stay together..." Ruby pleaded as she began to slowly zip the suit up, feeling more and more uncomfortable as the already tight fitting suit became even tighter. Once it was zipped all the way, she found it a little difficult to move without fearing that the suit would rip. She even breathed smaller breaths as the suit was rather tight around her chest.

Ruby went back to her phone to find that Weiss had texted her back.

[ **Weiss: **Actually, I was just about to go online. Also, I forgot to ask yesterday but have you played Beacons of Remnant before? You said you had a FRVR so I just assumed you have played it without asking.]

[ **Ruby: **Nope, but I think I'll be pretty good at it. I'll be on in a minute, just need to create a character]

Ruby stayed in her wheelchair as she grabbed her helmet out of her box and put it on. Sadly, her mattress was still wet and so she had to play the game in her wheelchair, a first for her. It was a bit of an odd change at first but she quickly settled into a comfortable sitting position.

"Game start!" she cheered the command with a smile and submerged herself in the enveloping numbness.

As soon as Weiss logged into Beacons of Remnant, she headed straight for the Vytal City's Grand Plaza where she was to meet up with Pyrrha by the Angelic Fountain. Just like the rest of Vytal City, the fountain was decorated for Halloween. The wings of the Angel were painted black and the angel itself had a black robe with glowing red eyes that shone through shadows created by a hood. The water sprouting from the six marble roses at her feet were now colored a crimson red, making the fountain look like a pool filled with blood. It was actually surprisingly pretty to look at despite the haunted aesthetic.

Weiss hurried over to the fountain where she stood and waited with Pyrrha. For about half an hour. Weiss had expected Ruby to be online before Pyrrha met up with her. She texted Weiss saying that she just needed a minute to create a character.

"How long does she need to make a character for? I made mine in like ten minutes." Weiss grumbled to no one in particular.

"Maybe she's lost in the streets."

"Or she's being indecisive about how her avatar's looks."

Pyrrha giggled before leaning on the fountain next to Weiss. "True, I can see that."

After a moment of silence, Pyrrha decided to change subjects. "So, Weiss. I remember you wanting to keep this hobby of yours between the two of us. What changed your mind?"

Weiss sighed, she did indeed wanted to keep her scandalous video game hobby a secret, but she didn't really have much of a choice. "I know, but I couldn't come up with anything else. I originally wanted to ask her to see a movie maybe, but I wasn't sure if that was possible because of...well, you know...her disability."

"Oh Weiss…" Pyrrha shook her head before continuing. "First off, you could have totally done that, she could sit in the front row where most theaters have accessible seating for people in wheelchairs. Second... that sounds like a date." Pyrrha gave Weiss a knowing look, causing the blue haired mage to blush.

"I-I knew that!" she didn't. "A-And friends go see movies together all the time, plus... I don't know what movies she'd like, the last time we asked her about her hobbies, it turned into a disaster."

"Fair enough, I'm just glad you were able to make a friend on your own for once."

Weiss let out a weak laugh, she was 16 years old and yet she just recently learned to socialize like a normal human being without coming off as a snarky, snobby brat who was full of herself.

"Thanks...I was actually really nervous this morning when I woke up. Imagine how shocked I was when Ruby texted me this morning, asking when I wanted to play."

Pyrrha giggled as she did indeed try to imagine it. "Did you squeal like a little girl on Christmas morning?"

"N-No! Of course I didn't!" she did.

"Oh please, you can at least admit that you were happy."

Weiss crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "I never said I wasn't."

"Excuse me, but you're Pyrrha, right?"

Weiss and Pyrrha turned their attention toward the sudden voice. A somewhat tall girl with feline features and long, dark purple hair stood before them. Weiss noticed the default clothing that new players start out with, making her stand out among the trio and the rest of the players in the plaza.

_**' **That's obviously not Ruby…where the hell is she? **' **_Weiss thought to herself, not really concerning herself with the new player.

"Indeed I am, and you must be Blake." Pyrrha shook the girl's hand before gesturing towards Weiss, who had perked up at the name of Blake. "And this is Myrtenaster, she also invited a friend to the game and so we just need to wait for her now."

Weiss put up a friendly smile as she waved at Blake, staying silent as she feared her voice might give her away. Truth be told, when Pyrrha said she invited a friend of hers, Weiss wasn't expecting it to be Blake Belladonna. The two of them didn't get along too well in school. Not because either of them hated each other mind you, at least not on Weiss' part, they were just competitive with their grades in school. Weiss would ace the test in chemistry without breaking a sweat while Blake would turn in her research essay and would get praise for how well written it is or how the topic was really thought out and unique.

"It's nice to meet you, Myrtenaster. Oh, and I prefer it if you didn't use my name…" Blake trailed off for a moment, clearly looking for the right thing to say. Weiss couldn't help but be entranced by the twitch of the cat ears atop Blake's head as she thought. "I, um, I'd like to just be called Gambol Shroud if you don't mind."

"Ah, so you like to keep the real world and virtual world separate. Myrtenaster here is the same, I think you two would get along great!" Pyrrha knew full well that Weiss and Blake didn't get along.

Weiss fought off the urge to glare at Pyrrha, knowing full well that she was trying to get her to socialize more.

"Um, e-excuse me, I-I'm looking for Wei-, I-I mean Myrtenaster."

The trio turned their heads towards the source, a girl only slightly taller than Weiss with long, black hair that covered her right eye and a few short silver braids that framed her face. Her eyes were a dark shade of blue, like the deep ocean and she also wore the same white tunic and brown pants that Blake was wearing. Weiss didn't need to ask who it was. The near miss of calling her by her real name, the nervousness in her voice. It was obviously Ruby. Despite knowing this, she was still surprised by what she saw.

Ruby had a big fluffy wolf tail that slowly swayed behind her and pointed, fuzzy wolf ears to match. But what really caught her attention wasn't the animal traits. No, weiss had gotten used to seeing those every so often in game already. The big surprise for Weiss was the fact that Ruby was taller than her.

"Ruby, y-you made it." Weiss walked up to her, making the height difference even more painfully obvious. Sure it was only a couple of inches like Crescent, but It was kind of bizarre to say the least. Seeing someone who you've only seen in a wheelchair and to suddenly be standing a couple inches over you was a drastic change, especially since Weiss just saw Ruby yesterday.

Ruby chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. "Y-yeah, um, sorry I'm late...I couldn't really decide on what to look like, there were just so many options and then I got stuck on coming up with a character name and-"

"Well, you certainly look good." Weiss cut Ruby off before she could begin rambling. Weiss wasn't sure why though, she never heard Ruby rambling before. Maybe it was just instinct.

"Though I'll admit the hairstyle would take some getting used to, it's a huge change from your usual messy and long hair."

Ruby brushed aside the hair that covered her right eye but it i fell back down effortlessly, covering her right eye once again. "Really? The hair isn't too bad is it?"

Weiss couldn't help but notice that Ruby's wolf tail wagged a little faster despite how nervous she looked. "Well, maybe it looks just a little...unexpected, but I assure you it's fine."

"Alright, I hate to interrupt" Pyrrha cut in, clapping her hands together. "But we should form a party and get started." With haste, Pyrrha sent a party invite to the others, causing three pings to go off simultaneously and each girl accepted the invitaton.

"Okay, let's head out to-"

"Actually, before we leave, can I talk to you for a second, Pyrrha?" Blake interrupted, sounding just a tad bit annoyed by something.

"Oh, um, sure." Just as she finished, Blake grabbed Pyrrha by the arm and dragged her some distance away, out of earshot of Weiss and Ruby.

From where Weiss was standing it looked like Blake, or rather "Gambol", was arguing with Pyrrha. Sadly she couldn't make a lick of sense of what they might be talking about.

"So...who's the other girl?" Ruby asked, rocking on the heels of her feet and her hands behind her back.

"Gambol Shroud, apparently she's also new to the game." Ruby simply hummed in response as she watched Pyrrha and Blake. Weiss took another look at Ruby when she wasn't looking, there was something about her that looked familiar for some reason. Maybe it was the face? Though Ruby's long hair in the real world covered a little bit of her face, it never covered anything completely like how her currently short hair did with her right eye as it completely disappeared behind the perfectly smooth, black hair. By the time Blake and Pyrrha were finished arguing and returned, Weiss gave up on guessing.

"Alright, let's get going and get you two geared up, shall we?" Pyrrha clasped her hands together with a smile on her face.

The four girls walked through the crowded virtual city, weaving in and out of the occasional group of people that blocked the roads. Weiss wasn't really paying too much attention as she kept staring at the back of Ruby's head. For the life of her, she couldn't shake away the feeling that Ruby looked familiar, but not because she knew her from school. She couldn't put her thoughts into words, it was just bizarre. In an attempt to think about something else other than Ruby, she began thinking of where the hell Crescent was. She hadn't seen her in a week due to school and was starting to miss her. Plus, she still needed to chastise her for not explaining anything about the game to her.

_**' **I wonder what Crescent is doing right now though, it's odd not seeing her online on saturday...maybe she's hanging out with her family or something. **'**_

**Ruby's POV**

_**' **God this is so stressful! **'**_

Ruby did her best to hide it well. She was beyond anxious as she struggled to figure out how to act around Weiss-wait no, it was Myrtenaster...but she was also Weiss.

_**' **If I act like I usually do online, would she figure me out? Should I just act like I do at school? But then everyone else in the guild might think I'm quiet and weird… **'**_

Ruby slowly shook her head in a way she hoped no one noticed. She felt like she was having an existential crisis. Which was the real her? Was it Crescent? Was it Ruby? Was it both? Ruby couldn't decide. But then, she noticed Gambol walking beside her, staring at her before quickly turning her head away.

_**' **Why is she staring at me? **'**_

**Blake's POV**

Blake quickly turned her head away from Ruby, hoping the girl didn't notice her staring. This was beyond problematic. Apparently Pyrrha only just found out that her friend Myrtenaster had invited Ruby to join the game. Blake found it quite the coincidence that Pyrrha's online friend was apparently friends with Ruby. In fact, she found it absolutely and strangely odd that Ruby even had any friends since she and Yang never saw her with anyone at school. Well, except for Weiss but that was only after school.

_**' **Wait a minute… **' **Blake looked over her shoulder to see the girl named Myrtenaster, luckily the blue haired girl was too busy staring at Ruby to notice. **' **There's no way she could be….no, she isn't the type to play silly games like this...right? RIGHT?! **'**_

* * *

After getting some proper gear for her and Ruby, Blake and the rest of the small party entered the Emerald Forest after Myrtenaster claimed some other player named Boop asked her to do a certain quest. They had to hunt down a monster for some Halloween event in the hopes of getting a certain piece of loot that Myrtenaster had been insisting to keep secret, only saying that it was a surprise for a friend. Apperently she didn't want to risk someone having loose lips and ruining the surprise and was clearly not taking any risks. Blake crouched down on the branch she was on and was surprised at how flexable her leather armor was. She was more surprised though when she foud out that she could choose it's color without any cost. She opted for a black leather chestpiece with white accents to compliment her white shirt underneath, as well as purple leather gloves that also covered half her forearm. Sadly, it was't as good looking as she would have liked but it's to be expected as a new player, or at least she thought so. Her little group had already did several quests and some grinding before coming to Emerald forest. But her and Ruby had just barely even reached level 10 so far and wouldn't stand a chance against their target alone.

"Why the hell are we doing this again!?" Blake yelled towards Pyrrha below her. She was currently squating on a branch up in a tree, gripping her short sword with her right hand while her left rested on the trunk of the tree to keep her steady.

"I told you, the best way to defeat our target is to lure it out and then you and I will ambush it." Pyrrha hid behind the tree that Blake was sitting in, peaking around the corner.

Blake sighed, she understood that much but why did Pyrrha send Myrtenaster and Ruby to be the bait? Blake may have not been much of a gamer, but reading fantasy novels told her that someone like her and Pyrrha would make better bait since she could dodge any incoming attacks rather easily while Pyrrha could tank any incoming damage. Blake opened the interface to check the time, Ruby and Myrtenaster had been gone for ten minutes already, much longer than Pyrrha said it should take to bring the target to them. With another sigh, Blake looked over towards the list of names and their accompanying health bars in the corner of her vision, eyeing the names of each member. It was easy to forget they were there, hidden away by her peripheral vision. Or maybe they actually disappeared whenever you didn't focus on them? Blake honestly couldn't tell. She looked each party member over, everyone's health was still full, So Ruby and Myrtenaster were fine. However, When she got to Ruby's name at the bottom of the list, she narrowed her eyes.

Summer.

It was such a simple name yet Blake couldn't help but feel like she heard it before. Maybe it was from one of the dozens of books she read or something, the name did sound kind of sweet and warm like some of the characters from her books after all. Blake looked back down at Pyrrha.

"Hey Pyrrha, why pair Myrtenaster with Ruby, wouldn't it have been better to pair me with Ruby? Not only would it be safer and more efficient, but I'd also get to be closer with Ruby and maybe figure out if she's Crescent or not, right?"

Pyrrha suddenly looked up at blake, her eyes wide before looking side to side as if she was looking for a way out. "W-Well…"

Ruby suddenly jumped out of a group of bushes and ran right past Pyrrha. Pyrrha simply blinked, not expecting Ruby to just run past her.

"Hi Pyrrha! Can't talk! Gotta Run!"

"Ruby, wait! Where's Myrtenaster!?" Pyrrha cried out.

Suddenly, the sound of a girl screaming could be heard, followed by a horrible combination of a shriek and growl, like someone shoved a large piece of metal into a woodchipper. Pyrrha turned to face the thicket of bushes that Ruby had run out of. Blake jumped down beside her, the two could hear what sounded like dozens of fallens leaves being crushed, growing louder and louder.

"Pyrrha…"

"Yeah, Blake?"

"I think we should run." Blake was already walking backwards just a foot away behind Pyrrha, ready to burst in a sprint any second.

"Yeah." Pyrrha followed Blake's lead and began walking backwards herself. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Just then, their target burst out of the thicket of bushes and trees, its eight skeletal legs skittering across the forest floor, it's eight glowing red eyes locking onto Blake and Pyrrha. The Arachne was horrifyingly huge, much bigger than the group of girls had thought. But the terror that Blake felt was suddenly overwhelmed with confusion by what she saw sitting atop the massive spider's head.

"Get me off this thing!" Myrtenaster cried out, tied down by rope and strapped to the spider, just above its eyes.

As much as Blake and Pyrrha would have loved to help, they weren't exactly in a good place to fight such a large beast. So, much to Myrtenaster's shock, Blake and Pyrrha bolted in the direction Ruby had run off to and The Arachne gave chase.

It only took half a minute yet it felt like forever as they ran through the forest and finally entered a clearing where they saw Ruby waiting, bow in her right hand and ready to fire. The two girls and the giant spider crashed through the treeline and not a second after did Blake and Pyrrha hear the sound of Various explosions and ropes being pulled behind them.

"I did it!" Ruby cheered with an excited tail wagging behind her as Blake and Pyrrha skidded to a halt beside her and quickly turned to face the spider.

At first they were surprised to see the spider with dozens of ropes holding it down on the ground and acidic looking slime covering it and slowly eating away at it's health. Luckily for Myrtenaster, she was completely untouched by the green substance, but that didn't stop her face from forming a disgusted expression from the sight of her slimy nemesis.

"Quick, the trap will only last for twenty seconds!" Ruby yelled at Pyrrha and Blake as she began firing her bow at the monster, doing very little damage with each shot.

Pyrrha wasted no time aa she charged the spider, slashing off one of its legs, then a second. Blake, with her lower level, decided she'd be more useful trying to cut free her blue haired friend from atop the spider's head. Jumping up effortlessly, Blake began cutting the rope while Mytenaster grumbled.

"It's not that big, she said. Just don't walk into the trap she said…"

Blake giggled as she began putting two and two together. "Let me guess, you ran right into Ru-err, Summer's trap?".

"What do you think?" Myrtenaster hissed, her voice further convincing Blake that her earlier theory of the mage's identity to be none other than Weiss schnee to be correct. However, she kept it to herself. What really confused Blake though was that if she was correct, then that means Weiss also knew that Blake was playing this game, right alongside her no less. And despite this, Weiss wasn't being her usual "Ice Queen" self that Blake knew her as. It was jarring to see her academic rival to not be so...well, Ice Queen-ish.

Once Wei-Myrtenaster was finally free, She and Blake jumped off the spider and joined the fight with Pyrrha and Ruby. Weiss joined Ruby in the back, casting a spell to freeze the spider's legs in place now that Ruby's traps weren't gonna last much longer. Blake joined Pyrrha in slashing at the beast with her short sword and dagger. She may not have a whole lot of damage output compared to Pyrrha, but she dealt it twice if not three times more quickly. The spider was helpless now that their most important key to Pyrrha's plan was free to freeze it in place for as long as they want while they dwindled down its health. And by god did it have a lot. It took them nearly 23 minutes to slash, stab, burn, freeze and shoot away at its monstrous health. It would have been much faster if Ruby and Blake weren't such low levels. Finally, the monster let out a terrible shriek before shattering into a glorious display of shiny stardust. Not a moment later did a loot chest appear where the massive spider was just slain, adorned with a pumpkin themed latch and black and orange colors.

"Finally…" Ruby groaned as she began walking over to the chest. "I swear if...um, this Boop girl asks us to fight something like that again when we've barely reached level ten…"

"Oh please, it would have been easier if you didn't set a trap right in the path of our escape route." Myrtenaster complained, Following after Ruby.

"I told you to jump!" Ruby exclaimed, waving her hands over her head.

"And I couldn't hear you over the sound of a GIANT SPIDER COMING RIGHT AT US!" Myrtenaster snapped, stomping her foot.

Blake and Pyrrha simply watch the two girls bicker. Blake was finally 100% sure that Myrtenaster was Weiss, no one else had such an iconic voice when angry.

"Hey Pyrrha...Myrtenaster is Weiss, isn't she?"

Pyrrha sighed in defeat, knowing full well that it was only a matter of time before Blake figured it out. "Yes, she is…but please just play along for now. She really doesn't want people to know."

"What about Ruby then? Despite their current argument, she seems to be fine with Ruby knowing."

"Well...I guess you could say that Weiss is trying to make a friend out of her."

Blake looked back over at Wei-Myrtenaster and Ruby who were still arguing.

"Look, it's hard being a Hunter, okay?! I'm not used to all these planting traps and ranged attack stuff yet. It's so much simpler when I'm a Warrior!"

Myrtenaster went from furious to confused in seconds, raising a brow and staring into Ruby's single visible eye. "Wait, I thought you said you never played this game before? Yet you know what it's like to play as a Warrior?"

Ruby flinched as she realized her mistake. She got so caught up in the game, slaying the monster and having fun with her friends that she completely forgot about what, or rather who, she was playing as. "Um, I...I…" Ruby stammered as her wolf ears flattened atop her head. It was heart wrenching for Blake to see Ruby look like a puppy that was about to be scolded.

Just as Pyrrha was about to speak up, Blake walked up to Ruby and stood beside her to stare down at "Myrtenaster" with a glare of her own. "There's very few games for the FRVR, it would be obvious that Ruby has tried playing the game before. And besides... Everyone is entitled to their secrets."

With the last part, Blake gave the blue haired mage a knowing look in an attempt to silently say "I know who you are, Weiss Schnee.". Myrtenaster, or rather Weiss, seemed to get the silent message from Blake as she took a step back, a bit shocked but still angry nonetheless. However, she let out a sigh and looked back at Ruby, but this time her face was more distant and stern. Blake knew that face all too well from seeing it first hand at school. The proud and proper Ice Queen facade.

"I'm sorry I got angry with you. Regardless of the reasons you lied, I was out of line and should have taken into account your inexperience with the role you have chosen." And with that, she walked over to the chest behind Ruby before the younger girl could even reply.

"T-Thanks for that, Gambol…" Ruby whispered to Blake rather solemnly. She looked like she was a little disappointed or maybe hurt by something. Blake couldn't fathom Why though. Maybe she felt bad for making Weiss angry? If that's the case, maybe she too wanted to be friends with Weiss.

"No problem, Summer. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure Myrtenaster will forgive and forget rather quickly." Blake actually wasn't sure. Despite knowing Weiss for a long time, she actually barely knew the girl at all as a person other than her past Ice Queen nature. However, Blake wanted to cheer Ruby up. In fact, it was weird being able to talk to Ruby without being shrugged off or avoided completely.

But deep down she knew it was only because Ruby didn't know who she was really talking to. Blake couldn't help but wonder what caused Ruby to be so distant with anyone outside of family. Yang never could give an answer as even she didn't really know, but she at least had a few guesses. The one that made the most sense was that Ruby probably felt insecure about her condition and probably even hates herself because of it.

"Yes! We finally got the last piece!" The suddenly excited voice from Weiss brought Blake out of her thoughts and even surprised her a little.

Weiss was standing over at the now fading chest. A wide smile plastered across her face as she stared at her inventory panel. Blake, Ruby, and Pyrrha ran over but before they could ask or see what was in her inventory, she quickly closed it.

"What last piece? Is it the stupidly secret reason why you and...this Boop person wanted to slay the Arachne?" Ruby asked, her voice quickly became hesitant when she mentioned Boop. Blake noticed and filed it under the "possible proof that Ruby is Crescent" part of her brain.

"It's a surprise for a friend." Weiss stated as a matter of fact. "Now if you don't mind, it's already several hours past lunchtime and I'm sure my real body would like a meal. I'll be back on in about thirty minutes and hopefully Crescent will be online by then."

"Yeah." Ruby chimed in with a hand on her stomach. However, Blake couldn't help but notice how she looked nervous behind her happy facade. "I think I'll go eat too, I haven't even eaten any breakfast today. N-Not sure if I'll come back online though."

With that, Ruby and Weiss logged off, leaving Blake with Pyrrha who finally let out a long, drawn out sigh as she pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Those two are stressful to deal with…"

Blake laughed a little at Pyrrha's misery. "you have to admit though, they are fun to watch."

"I guess they are, but sometimes I wish they'd just get done with this secret identity stuff and be normal friends already."

Blake's cat ears twitched as she finally had the perfect opportunity to say what she's been dying to say for a long time now. "Is that why you paired Ruby and Weiss with each other all morning?"

Once again, Pyrrha sighed in defeat but this time with a smile. "Yes, I was hoping that they'd bond a little since they only see each other after school for Ruby's tutoring."

"Fair enough. But I gotta say, for a while there I was starting to think you were playing matchmaker with Weiss and Ruby." Blake laughed, ignoring the nervous chuckle that came from Pyrrha.

"Y-Yeah…that would certainly be weird."

* * *

Ruby slowly took her helmet off and stretched her arms and back, groaning as the bones in her body popped. It's official, sitting still for hours like this was not good in the long run. Despite that though, she was happy. Her plan worked even with that close call at the end. Weiss still didn't know her secret and Ruby had a new friend, Gambol. Although, being called by her mother's name by Gambol was odd but she was sure that she'll get used to it...maybe. It did make her feel a little pain every time she heard the name of course. but that's just a sacrifice Ruby was willing to make in order to keep her special alter ego Crescent a secret. With a happy smile, all Ruby needed now was some food in her belly and she'd be happy with a full stomach. ...However, There was just one problem for Ruby that she hadn't quite noticed yet.

"It's about time you woke up, Kiddo."


	9. Identity Fiasco Part 2

"It's about time you woke up, Kiddo." The scruffy voice was casual and had a subtle hint of teasing in it, but for Ruby it filled her with fear.

Ruby froze in place. Her eyes threatened to pop out of her sockets with how wide they were, adrenaline pumped through her as her worst fear began taking a hold of her. She practically had to force herself to turn her head to the source of the voice, and when she did, Ruby felt a whole range of emotions as soon as she saw who was in her room with her. Fear, anger, anxiety, and oddly enough, joy. In the corner of her room, sitting in one of the chairs usually found in the dining room was the last person she expected to catch her. To discover her secret.

"U-Uncle Qrow!? W-What are you-how did you get in here?!" Ruby couldn't seem to control her stuttering as she couldn't decide what to do with her hands, first deciding to place them on her lap and then trying to cover herself in a failed attempt to hide the skin tight suit that she was wearing.

Qrow tilted back on the chair, balancing on the back legs. "Well, you wouldn't answer after I knocked five times, so obviously I got worried. As to how, your dad left me the key to your room before leaving to go pick up your sister." He then got up and opened the door to the rest of the house.

"I'll go get lunch started and let you, well...change into something a little more appropriate for cooking."

"W-What? Wait! W-Why do I have to-" Qrow shut the door behind him as he left the room, leaving Ruby alone and in a state of utter confusion and anxiety.

'Why didn't he bring up the suit? Why did he act like nothing happened? And what the hell did he mean by cooking?!'

After quickly changing into some sweatpants and a black t-shirt and putting her FRVR gear back under her bed, Ruby exited her room rather hesitantly. She turned a corner and passed through the dining room, noticing her Uncle's large duffle bag sitting in the corner of the room, its woodland camo pattern making it stand out amongst the rather ordinary looking dining room. When she entered the kitchen, Ruby found Qrow setting up several pans and pots onto the counter, right alongside various ingredients that Ruby instantly recognized.

"You're making cookies?"

" We are making cookies, after that I'll be making dinner and hopefully finish before your dad and sister come back."

"But dad kinda unofficially banned me from cooking...saying it's too dangerous."

Qrow chuckled as he tossed Ruby a red apron. The same one her mom would wear while cooking. Ruby managed to fight off the sudden sad thoughts that the apron reminded her of and looked up at Qrow with a confused look. Qrow simply smiled at her, the same cocky smile he wore whenever he did something her father wouldn't like. "Danger never stopped me yet, has it? Besides, I'll be doing the actual cooking. You're just, uh, helping me out."

A small smile tugged at her lips, her uncle did have a point after all. His line of work was pretty dangerous. However, there was only one problem. "Okay, but how can I help? I'm not exactly tall enough to do much...well, not any more..."

To prove her point, she strolled up to the counter, her head and the very top of her shoulders being the only parts of her body to be higher than said counter. Her father hadn't exactly made the kitchen accessible to her, at least not yet. It was bad enough she couldn't ever reach the over-head cabinets when she could walk. "See? How am I supposed to do anything if I can barely bring my arms over the counter?"

"I got just the thing for ya." Qrow walked into the adjacent dining room and searched through his duffle bag. "Before my flight home, I picked up a little something that I thought would help you out a little."

When Qrow reentered the kitchen, he had what looked like a small table with a cushion underneath instead of legs, maybe only a little bigger than the food trays they had at school. There was even a visible crease that looked like a part of the table tilted upward to allow writing or maybe place a tablet on it. Ruby immediately knew what it was.

"A lap desk?"

"I know it ain't much, but consider it an early birthday present." Qrow held the lap desk out for Ruby to take, but Ruby was hesitant. For her it was just another thing to remind her that she can't do things normally like other people. On the other hand, it would be pretty useful. She could even use it in bed to do homework or practice her drawing. After a few seconds, Ruby took the device and slowly placed it on her lap. She instantly noticed several USB ports on the side for electronic devices. Maybe this will be a lot more useful than she thought.

"Well? Do you think you can help me cook now that you have a table to work with?" Qrow asked, a slight hint of hesitation in his tone. A sign that told Ruby that he'd understand if she just wanted to stay alone in her room.

"Alright...I guess I could make this work." Ruby gave Qrow her best reassured smile. She was hungry after all and she could easily eat some of the chocolate chips and maybe even the cookie dough if she was desperate enough.

Qrow grew a wide smile, a rare sight to see, even amongst family. He clasped his hands together. "Alright, let's get started then."

* * *

It took a bit of effort but Ruby managed to get the hang of stirring the bowl of cookie dough on her newly acquired desk sitting on her lap. The second batch of cookies were almost ready to bake and the first were already out of the oven, cooling off on the counter behind her and Qrow. However, the entire time Ruby was helping Qrow cook, the nagging curiosity of why he has yet to mention the incident in her room earlier grew more and more. Eventually, Ruby decided to just ask.

"Uncle Qrow…"

"What's up?" Qrow responded with the same small smile he had been wearing when they started.

"A-About earlier...back in my room, I-"

"If you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry."

"But-"

"You don't have to tell me about your little virtual hobby." Qrow continued to focus on the pan he was currently placing small blobs of cookie dough on. "If it makes you happy and you'd prefer to keep it to yourself, you are perfectly obligated to do so, Kiddo."

Ruby thought about that for a minute. Qrow had always seemed to understand and respect her desire to keep things to herself after the accident, so she wasn't really surprised to hear him shrug it off like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it was because of Qrow's line of work and his experiences that made him the only person Ruby could rely on after losing the use of her legs. He respected her boundaries in ways that Yang and her father never did. That's not to say they didn't give her space, but it was just different. Yang only gave her space when Ruby had to practically spell it out for her while her father did so because she had to beg for it. She didn't have to distance herself from Qrow though, there was an air of understanding around him that allowed Ruby to relax and not put up any walls like she did with everyone else.

Without any warning, the sound of the front door bursting open ruined the moment and Ruby couldn't help but groan. She had a sneaking suspicion that her father's return wasn't going to be a very peaceful one.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Yang's voice echoed throughout the home. She sounded a bit annoyed, but that didn't seem to stop her from being sincere with her apology.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." her father's voice followed shortly after and Ruby shuddered by how angry he sounded.

Qrow leaned over towards Ruby to whisper. "Sounds like someone's gonna get grounded."

Ruby couldn't help but giggle at that, it's been way too long since the last time her dad was this angry with either Yang or herself. She heard Yang's footsteps as it sounded like she was heading towards Ruby's room, obviously thinking that Ruby was in her room and not currently in the kitchen. Not a moment sooner did Tai walk into the kitchen in shock.

"What the heck is going on here?" Tai stared at Qrow for a bit, then drifted down towards Ruby and was even more shocked upon seeing her wearing Summer's Apron and helping Qrow cook. He was about to say something but Yang rushed around the corner to see what was going on and immediately ran up and hugged Qrow the moment she saw him.

"Uncle Qrow! I thought you weren't coming back for another month!"

The sound of Tai pretending to clear his throat got Yang's attention as he subtly gestured to Ruby, who had silently gone back to stirring the cookie dough. Ruby honestly felt a bit awkward the moment Tai entered the kitchen. She noticed her father's supposedly subtle gesture towards her and she knew what was going to happen next. But that wasn't the problem really, the problem was that all eyes were on her now, looking at her with hidden pity. Ruby heard Yang take a few steps closer behind her as she continued to stir the bowl, trying her best to not look anxious.

"Ruby…" Ruby didn't respond. It was stupid, making Yang apologize for something that Ruby wasn't even bothered by. Sure she was mad this morning when she found out she was home alone but it wasn't the fact that she was alone that made her angry, but the fact that the one time she needed help and no one was around to help. But regardless, she wasn't bothered by it anymore, she managed just fine on her own.

"I'm sorry for leaving you home alone...I didn't expect you to have another nightmare and-"

"You don't need to Apologize." Ruby didn't bother to look up as she continued to stir the bowl. "Besides, I can take care of myself."

Tai stepped forward. "Ruby, with all due respect, I think it would have been best if your sister was around just in ca-"

"I said I can take care of myself." Ruby repeated, an ounce of irritation slipped out of her lips as she started to stir the bowl faster. Why couldn't they just let her be?

"Ruby…" Yang hesitantly took a step forward but quickly backtracked. "I really am sorry, I know how bad your nightmares can get and I-"

"I'm fine, damn it!" The wooden spoon suddenly slipped from Ruby's hand and flew across the room as the bowl rocked several times on her lapdesk. Her breathing was ragged, hands slightly trembling and her face was finally allowed to contort in anger. Everyone around her was silent. Ruby jolted as a hand was placed on her right arm. She snapped her head to her right only to see Qrow kneeling beside her and smiling softly.

"Hey Kiddo, how about you go ahead and finish that homework you were working on before I dragged you into the kitchen, alright? I can handle the rest without ya." as Qrow spoke softly, Ruby just barely noticed the mixing bowl she was just stirring be replaced with a plate full of freshly baked cookies. She gave him a nervous nod and wheeled past Yang and her father, all the while avoiding eye contact with them. It wasn't until everyone heard the door to Ruby's room quietly shut did Tai finally speak.

"Well...that didn't go the way I expected it…"

Qrow finally stood up and resumed his task of placing that last few blotches of cookie dough onto the pan. His small smile had disappeared along with Ruby and was replaced by a solemn and stern expression. "You two need to start giving her a little more space."

Tai simply glared at Qrow. "Yang, I believe you're supposed to be grounded."

"But-" Yang stopped when she saw the stern look her dad had and then looked over towards her uncle. It was then clear to Yang that her dad wanted to speak to Qrow alone. "Right...I'll be in my room."

Once Yang was gone and the sound of her upstairs bedroom door shutting was heard, Tai finally walked over to Qrow. He opened a drawer, taking out a clean spoon and began stirring the bowl of cookie dough that Ruby hadn't finished. Tai was about to speak, but Qrow seemed to cut right to the chase.

"If you're gonna help cook, at least wash your hands first."

Tai chuckled and did exactly that. "I give Ruby plenty of space, but it's gotten to the point that she's isolating herself and putting up walls."

"Have you ever thought that you and Yang constantly treating her like she'll break any second is the problem?"

Tai finished washing his hands and went back to stirring, frowning all the while. "Yes, I have. That's why I have done my best to refrain from talking to Ruby about her...problems. It's just that...it's been nearly two years. I know that grief never really goes away. Hell, I still shed a tear whenever I remember all the good times me and Summer had together. Yang even managed to push on and move forward sooner than I did. But Ruby...She can't seem to do that…"

"You're wrong."

Tai blinked a few times, looking at Qrow with a dumbfounded expression "What?"

Qrow put the second batch of cookies into the oven and set the timer. "Ruby has managed to move forward at least a little bit, I can guarantee you that. Sure she still has some nightmares, some being bad enough to cause her to have a panic attack, but as much as I hate to say it, that sure as hell ain't going away. Believe me, I know from experience."

Tai didn't respond for a moment as the words from Qrow lingered. He knew Ruby seemed to put a lot of trust in Qrow, especially after the accident, but it has left him feeling a tad bit jealous if he was being honest. He knew Ruby probably talked to Qrow about her problems more often than coming to him instead. "I take it this is the part where you tell me what the problem is and how to fix it?"

Qrow chuckled and leaned back against the counter. "All you need to do is give her some space. And I'm not talking about physical space, Tai. Let her take care of herself, allow her to spread her wings and stop hanging over her shoulder like a helicopter mom." Qrow took a deep breath and sighed, allowing his face to look solemn with a thousand yard stare. "She's crippled from the waist down, not useless god damn it."

Tai let out a weak, sad laugh. Sometimes he just hated it when Qrow was right. "Last I checked, you're more of a mom than I am with all the cooking you do… But you're right, I suppose I have gotten carried away with taking care of Ruby and treating her like a child."

Seeing as Qrow didn't say anything, Tai continued. "It was hard when she got back from the hospital. You remember how she was, right? She barely ate, barely spoke let alone smile. Hell, I remember when she finally did speak after a month of almost complete silence. It was like she just woke up one day full of energy. Well, not as much energy as before the accident but it was still certainly an improvement. It was like night and day."

Qrow nodded solemnly. "Yeah well...I know I said this the last time I was home but...give her time. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just let her take her time."

"I know…"

Qrow jabbed Tai in the shoulder with a grin, trying to cheer his brother-in-law up. "Now come on, help me make dinner. I got some good news I want to share while we have a feast for my return."

Tai chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. One big feast to celebrate your return coming right up."

* * *

When Ruby became Crescent, she was a lot of things. Honorable warrior, trustworthy friend, and slayer of monsters. Her black leather armor and blood red cloak further enforced these things. However, what one of her closest friends was trying to make her wear symbolized none of those traits. When Ruby went back online, she met up with Nora who told her to meet her in Forever Fall Forest with Ren. If she knew the costume for their bet was ready, Ruby would have never come back online today.

"Nora, I am not wearing that." Ruby pushed the decline button to the interface panel that appeared in front of her. For the 10th time already.

"You lost fair and square, Little Red. You reap what you sow!" Nora continued to spam the trade invite button, eagerly waiting for Ruby to accept.

"I don't care, it's too embarrassing and Crescent does not. do. cute." Ruby crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks.

Nora sighed and finally stopped spamming Ruby with the trade invite, glaring at Ruby. "That's a load of malarkey and you know it. What's wrong with looking a little cute for the best month of the year? For as long as I've known you, you loved cute things."

Ruby groaned, she knew Nora would just keep pestering her until she talked. No need to drag it out. However, there was just one problem. "Ren...Can you give us some privacy? I promise it will only take a minute."

Ren nodded with a smile. "Take all the time you need, I'll go ahead and find the others to prepare for the surprise." He gave Nora a quick peck on the lips and ran off in the direction of Vytal City.

Ruby promptly sat on the vibrant red forest floor and crossed her legs, with Nora deciding to remain standing beside her. They remained like this for a good couple of minutes as Nora let Ruby take her time to collect her thoughts as she played with the Fall leaves on the ground.

"I don't think I look pretty enough for such an outfit…"

"Don't be ridiculous, you look amazing."

"Nora, you haven't seen me in person since we met in the hospital two years ago. Not to mention I looked like a mess back then."

"So? Your character model gives me a pretty good idea of how your body looks, and let me tell you, you look really cute while still managing to have some sexy curves."

"N-Nora!" Ruby slammed her hands into the ground, her face burning red like the forest around them. As much as she loved being friends with the older girl, the filter on Nora's mouth was certainly a problem.

Nora let out a hearty laugh, clutching her sides. "It's true! I don't understand, why don't you think you look pretty?"

Ruby picked up one of the large red leaves, twirling it between her fingers. "I haven't worn anything but sweatpants and hoodies for a really, really long time...the idea of wearing something as girly as a skirt just feels so...weird. And besides, If I wore a skirt in the real world, the scars on my legs could show..."

"Well, you could always wear one of those skirts that go past your knees."

Ruby crinkled her nose at the thought. "Bleh, I'd rather wear ugly sweatpants for the rest of my life."

Nora shook her head before sitting down beside Ruby. She placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her younger friend. "Look, as much as this is your punishment for losing the bet, this is also my way of trying to help you feel more confident. You're a very pretty girl Ruby, scars and all."

"How would you know? You haven't even seen them…"

"So? Scars don't make people ugly by default, they tell a story and look really cool!" Nora grinned and was elated to see Ruby finally smile.

Ruby rolled her eyes and finally lifted her head to look at Nora. "Only you would think my scars look cool."

"Hey, a lot of people find scars to be really cool!" Nora shot up to her feet with a wide smile. "Now come on, Little Red! Everyone is waiting to see you in your costume!"

Ruby shook her head with a smile as she got to her feet. "Go get struck by lightning again."

"Oh, please." Nora started while sending Ruby the trade invite one last time. "You and I both know by now that a lightning bolt ain't gonna stop me."

Ruby reluctantly accepted the trade invite, sighing in defeat. A bet is a bet after all. She was now forced to wear this outfit for the remainder of the month whenever she was Crescent.

'I really hope they don't laugh at me…'

* * *

After Weiss came back online from her little lunch break, she met up with Pyrrha and Blake, alongside Ren and Jaune in Vytal and had been told that Crescent and Boop are online as well, getting Crescent's costume ready. So, here she was, waiting for Boop and Crescent at the Inn with two boys that she really didn't know too well, her closest friend, and someone that Weiss was sure considered her an enemy. This time however, they all decided to sit at one of the round tables away from any windows as the booths only had enough room for about six people at most.

Jaune was talking about some Halloween event with a rare armor drop while Ren mostly listened and only spoke occasionally, Pyrrha chimed in with her own plans for the halloween event and Blake was silent and mostly keeping to herself, just like in real life. Weiss however, was deep in thought. The first half of the day was interestingly odd to say the least, Ruby was much more sociable in game than she was in person, something that has been bugging Weiss ever since she logged off for lunch. Weiss was also starting to notice that Ruby's voice was really familiar and when she thought about it, if Ruby wasn't being so shy and grumpy at school, Weiss could swear Ruby sounded like Crescent but without the happy, cheery tone and happy-go-lucky attitude that Crescent always seemed to have.

But they couldn't be the same person. Ruby and Crescent are two different people, right? They just had really similar voices, right? Some people just so happen to sound the same...right? Then again, they also seemed to be the same height, or at least in game they are. Weiss was still trying to get used to the idea of Ruby being slightly taller than her despite Weiss towering over her in the real world.

'Maybe I just miss Crescent after such a busy week with Ruby. Yeah, that has to be it. My brain is just mismatching their voices because I spent so long with hearing her-their-arrgh! Ruby's voice….yeah, that's a thing, right? God this is just so weird and confusing...maybe they are the same person? But if that's true, then why? What would Ruby, errm, Crescent...No, Ruby, argh! What would SHE gain from lying to me?!'

"Hey Myrtenaster, what costume are you after?"

Weiss nearly jumped out of her seat as Jaune put all the attention on her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. What are we talking about?"

"The Halloween event!" Jaune exclaimed with a wide smile. "I'm going after the Jack 'O' Knight costume!"

"And I've decided to go after the Goblin Green Ninja costume." Ren Chimed with a small, satisfied smile.

Weiss blinked a few times, unsure of how to respond. She wasn't really interested in dressing up for the halloween event in the game. Hell, she hadn't really paid much attention to the event itself, let alone the costumes and fancy items one could acquire during the event. Maybe she should give it a try then? It's not like she had anything better to do in the game other than go through the slow grind of leveling up. Plus, it wasn't like she didn't have the money to buy some of the rare items. Though, she'd have to be careful not to spend too much money or else her father might notice via her credit card spending.

"I don't know what I'd get, I haven't really looked at what costumes you can acquire."

"Might I suggest the Ice Queen costume?" Blake suggested, ending her long held silence with a teasing smirk. "I think it would look perfect on you."

Weiss gave the purple haired cat girl an icy glare, She was trying her best not to be her usual self around Blake but it seemed Blake had figured out her identity regardless. Weiss was honestly questioning whether or not she and Blake could actually get along in the game. In fact, today has been the longest they have ever been around each other, especially outside of school. "Excuse me, but what exactly are you implying, Gambol ."

Blake simply gave Weiss a cocky smirk. "I'm just saying, I haven't seen you cast anything besides ice spells, besides the occasional fire ball thrown in the mix of course. Plus, with all the white and blue you wear, I just figured it was kind of your thing."

Weiss gritted her teeth, her eyes glaring down at her adversary. "Well, maybe you'd look good in one of those revealing cat costumes I've seen some players wearing around lately, I'm sure you'd get a thrill out of that."

"Now, Now…" Pyrrha chimed in quickly. "We're all friends here. Blake, Myrtenaster uses a lot of ice spells because it's best for supporting the rest of us. And Myrtenaster, I'm pretty sure that Gambol isn't into such, erm, cat themed costumes…"

Weiss simply scoffed and crossed her arms while Blake chuckled, obviously finding Weiss' response amusing.

"So...Crescent and Boop are certainly taking their time." Jaune said after a brief moment of silence. "I'm just glad that Crescent is okay after whatever happened last week."

Weiss shot her head up, raising a brow at Jaune. "What do you mean? What happened to Crescent?"

"Not really sure, Boop said she had a-"

"Come on Crescent, stop hiding!" Boop's ever so loud and boisterous voice filled the entire inn, causing everyone in the building to stare at the entrance where Boop stood, looking back outside with her arms crossed. "Everyone is waiting for you!"

After a few seconds, a hooded and cloaked Crescent walked inside. Her signature red cloak, that was significantly brighter than usual, covered her body from view, making it very clear to Weiss, as well as the rest of their friends, that she's embarrassed. Crescent seemed to notice the table everyone was sitting at and whispered something into Boops ear, who simply laughed.

"Come on, it's not that bad!" Boop began walking toward the table, with Crescent following rather reluctantly. Boop took her seat by Ren, but before Crescent could sit beside Weiss and Pyrrha, Boop stopped her in her tracks with a wide, teasing grin.

"Crescent, aren't you gonna show off your new costume?"

Crescent simply muttered and groaned to herself as she took her hood off and finally opened up her cloak. Everyone was instantly silent, even Weiss who already knew what she was gonna see. But that didn't stop Weiss' eyes going wide at the sight, she expected the costume to look good on Crescent, but not this good. Crescent's costume was a simple outfit consisting of a red skirt that stopped just before her knees with knee high stockings, while her top was a white bodice with puffy little sleeves that ended right at her shoulders and a black corset that made the red and white stand out rather nicely. Weiss would have marveled and gawked at her friend wearing her costume a little longer, but a whistle from Pyrrha broke the silence everyone was holding.

"I gotta say, you look great Crescent."

"Yeah, just don't run into any wolves and I'm sure you'll be fine." Blake added.

Weiss had drowned everyone out as she inspected the costume, something was missing and for a while she couldn't quite figure out what it was, that was until she remembered with a teasing smile. "Hey, aren't you supposed to have a basket full of cookies?"

Crescent sighed heavily as she mixed it with a groan and begrudgingly opened up her inventory for a split second and equipped the basket in question, appearing in her hand but sadly had no cookies inside.

"I hate you guys so much…"

"Awww," Boop placed a hand on her chest, looking at Crescent with a feigned expression of sincerity. "We love you too Crescent."

"Seriously, you look great." Weiss said as she gestured to the seat beside her. "Of course, I helped get the pieces with Boop and Ren."

"Really?" Crescent's eyes widened for a bit before sitting next to Weiss, who easily noticed the sudden pink shading of Ruby's cheeks underneath her hood.

"Of course, I'm not gonna turn down my friends when they ask for help." And besides, she really wanted to see Crescent in the costume. Crescent really pulled off the Red Riding Hood look very well.

"Oh yeah!" Boop grabbed everyone's attention as she stared at Blake with excited eyes. "You must be one of our new members, I'm Boop!"

Blake seemed a bit startled at first by Boop's loud personality but recovered quickly and reached out with her hand. "Gambol, it's nice to meet you."

Boop shook her hand rather violently, shaking Blake in her seat. "Same here! So where's the other one? Did they log off already?"

Pyrrha shared a look with Blake before replying, something that didn't go unnoticed by Weiss. "Sadly, but she did say they might come back online today. No promises though."

Ever since Weiss found out Gambol is Blake, she has been trying to figure out Blake's reasoning for joining the game, especially with Pyrrha. Weiss had never seen Blake and Pyrrha hanging out together, yet she was invited to play with them by Pyrrha. It didn't make a lick of sense and yet here they were, with Weiss sharing a booth with Blake in a virtual Inn and acting as friends.

"Hey, Crescent." Jaune started, bringing Weiss out of her thoughts. "What happened last week? Boop said you had a panic attack."

Weiss didn't need to look at Crescent directly to know she had tensed up, judging by how the girl flinched. Weiss slid away a few inches to give Crescent some space as she noticed that the girl in question looked like a deer in headlines.

Boop looked like she was holding back a glare as she looked at Jaune. "Jaune, I don't think she wants to-"

"I don't like blood." it was quiet, but Crescent managed to grab everyone's attention, staring at her like she had said something weird. "The, um, the boss room had too much of it and so I freaked out I guess…"

Weiss stared at Crescent, unsure of her own expression as several feelings ran through her. She was shocked by the new information but also concerned as she had never heard of or seen Crescent be anything but a big ball of happiness. She was concerned, wondering what could make Crescent freak out over blood so much that the game ejected her as a safety precaution.

"But blood's never bothered you in the past." Pyrrha said, looking at her with a confused expression.

"It's not really the blood itself, I think…or the only thing that made me freak out." Pyrrha opened her mouth to speak again but Crescent quickly cut her off. "Look, I don't really want to talk about it, okay?"

And it was that moment that Weiss' earlier thoughts of Ruby being Crescent returned tenfold. That voice. It was sad and distant, just like Ruby's during the first few days they met. But before Weiss could even think about that, Blake joined in on the conversation.

"That's fine. You have every right to keep it to yourself." Blake reached across the table to shake Crescent's hand. "I'm Gambol by the way, nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Pyrrha."

"I'm Crescent, though you probably already knew that." Crescent briefly shook Blake's hand with an awkward smile but clearly welcomed the change of topic. "So, what do you think of the game so far?"

"It's actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Honestly, I've never really been into video games, but this virtual reality stuff is certainly amazing."

Suddenly, Pyrrha stood up from her seat, grabbing everyone's attention. "Well, as much as I'd like to stay and watch everyone become friends, I think it's about time I head to the Guild Hall and make our new guild. I should be back in a couple of minutes."

As Pyrrha walked away, Weiss was reminded of how Crescent hadn't taught her the needed information she was supposed to. Weiss honestly still couldn't believe Crescent could think that just teaching her how to fight monsters was enough to play the game correctly. Weiss, using every bit of self control she had not to glare at Crescent, opened her mouth to speak, hoping she didn't sound too harsh in her attempt to lecture the dolt. That was, until a strange girl walked up to their table, wearing what looked like Ruby's costume but in a much different color palette of pink, white, and brown and grabbed everyone immediate attention. However, Weiss' friend's, excluding Blake, attention was accompanied by a mix of glares and annoyed, pained expressions that Weiss wasn't familiar with.

"What do you want, Neo?" Crescent was the first to speak, looking a bit impatient with the girl as she stood up from her chair. It wasn't until seeing Ruby tower over the girl known as Neo did Weiss realize just how short the girl was. Possibily even shorter than herself.

Neo simply gave Crescent an unsatisfied look and pointed at Crescent's outfit, or rather more specifically, her cloak. Crescent laughed, rather mockingly as she resumed glaring at Neo, which honestly surprised Weiss. "Yes, we have the same costume, what about it?"

"I think she wants your cloak." Boop said with an annoyed eye roll, prompting Neo to nod enthusiastically.

Weiss, surprising herself, shared a look of confusion with Blake as they both suddenly felt awkward, not understanding what was going on. It looked like Blake was about to say something when two more people walked up, one of which Weiss recognized from her time with Boop and Ren.

"Hey, Neo! What the hell are you doing over here?" A green haired mage, Weiss remembered her name being Morgiana, walked up with a much taller boy with short, violet hair. "Oh hey! You're the blue haired mage that these losers managed to recruit, and it looks like they managed to snatch up a cat girl too."

Weiss suddenly got the picture, she remembered Boop mentioning a ' a little mute brat', this Neo girl must be who Boop referred to and must be a part of Morgiana's guild. "And you're the thief that stole our pumpkin heads."

Morgiana scoffed and put her hands on her hips, looking down at Weiss with a cocky smirk. "Hey, it's not my fault the devs didn't think of that when they were making the quest."

Of course she would divert the blame to someone else, nothing but a rotten thief. Weiss gritted her teeth as she managed to hold back her temper. "That doesn't make you right."

"But it does make us better than you." The boy said, taking a step forward with his arms crossed, a permanent smirk plastered to his face. Weiss probably would have thought he was handsome, if he didn't also look like such an asshole.

Jaune suddenly stood, along with Boop and Ren, joining Crescent as they squared off against their unwanted guests. Weiss and Blake remained seated, a bit surprised by the sudden animosity that surrounded the two groups. Blake leaned over, whispering to Weiss.

"Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"Kinda...I was told they're rivals, sort of. I don't really know why though."

"Look at this, Morgiana." The violet haired boy scoffed, staring down Jaune. "Looks like the boy wonder here finally got some decent armor."

"Good eye, Talaria. I wonder if he can finally hit something with that sword."

"How about we find out!" Crescent blurted out, glaring up at Talaria. The glare was filled with more anger than Weiss had ever seen from Crescent, nearly rivaling her father's. She made a quick note to not get on Ruby's bad side. Talaria however, laughed at Crescent and nearly doubled over in the process.

"You!? Last I fought you, you were waving around a giant sword like a clumsy cow!"

Weiss noticed Crescent tremble in rage, her fists shook slightly as she narowed her eyes, staring daggers into Talaria. "Siege of Fort Castle, 3v3, one hour from now. Or are you scared that I'd actually kick your stupid violet butt this time around?"

Morgiana chuckled confidently, shaking her head. "Wow, you guys really like losing, don't you?"

"Well?" Boop asked, reaching for her mighty hammer.

"Fine, we're up for a little slaughter." Talaria snickered. "See you losers in an hour."

Just as Morgiana, Talaria, and Neo left, Pyrrha came back to the Inn and glared at the trio as she walked past. When she saw that everyone but Weiss and Blake were standing while looking quite angry, she grew a frown. Weiss was many things at the moment. Angry, prideful, but more than anything, she was confused. What thell just happened?

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked, almost demanded really as she took the words right out of Weiss' mouth. When she didn't get a response, she asked again, this time with a bit more force. "What. Happened."

Jaune chuckled sheepishly. "We may have challenged them to Siege of Fort Castle... again."


	10. Identity Fiasco Part 3

It was a typical Saturday in the virtual world of Remnant, her beautiful creation came to life through years of hard work. The Halloween event was going well, the decorations are loved by the players and they enjoyed the new quests and costumes. However, The girl's creation still had a relatively small player base compared to conventional MMOs and also still lacked any kind of publicity outside of the game's praise for it's unique technological breakthroughs. However, the creator of the game has a plan, and she just needed to find the one person she wanted to help her. The only problem is that she hasn't met the person in a little over 2 years.

"Penny...I don't think you're going to find who you're looking for by walking through the streets." The feminine voice chided in her head, well, not really in her head but it might as well have been.

"But Ciel, how else am I supposed to find her?" Penny walked among the players, none of them even remotely aware that the creator of the very game they were in was walking among them.

"Well, if you didn't lose the note that had her address on it, you could have just visited her home instead..."

"Hey, you try keeping track of a tiny little note that I made on shredded paper found in a hospital two years ago." Penny really should have made Ciel make a digital copy of it the moment she got back from her doctor's appointment back then, she would have at least liked to see if that little girl even accepted her gift to begin with. While Penny was reminiscing about her old, maybe, kind of, sort of friend while Ciel was chasticing her for her lack of organizational skills. It wasn't her fault, really. Penny's always had difficulty keeping things organized, among other things of course.

As Penny was deep in thought, ignoring Ciel's ranting, and not watching where she was going, a door suddenly swung open and knocked her off her feet and sent her landing onto the cobblestone road in a heap. It took her a few seconds to notice that the people that had just opened the door completely ignored her and walked on by. However, the conversation they were having caught her complete attention, drowning out anything CIel was saying in the process.

"Those losers are so going down." The only male of the trio said

"Calm down, Talaria. It's not like it's anything worth getting excited over." a green haired mage deadpanned.

"Hey, you may not care much about PVP, but I on the other hand love it."

"I just hope Cinder doesn't get wind of this…"

Driven by curiosity, Penny looked towards the building the rude players had just left and looked through the window. What she saw was a group of players, a red headed girl that looked both angry and worried all at once, a blue haired mage and a purple haired rogue that looked confused, a tall blonde paladin and pinked haired warrior that looked like they were explaining something to the fuming red head, and last but not least, A female warrior with black hair with red highlights who looked an awful lot like…

"I found her! Ciel, I found her!" Penny squealed in delight.

"What!? Are you sure it's her?"

"Of course! I have a photographic memory, remember? And the helmet scans your facial structure to make as close of a replica of the player's face as possible, it may not be an exact and perfect copy but I am eighty five percent sure that this girl is definitely her!"

"Alright, now all you have to do is-"

"No...No no no no!" Penny couldn't believe what she was seeing. The group of players, including the one person she was looking for, used a quick travel stone thanks to the blue haired mage. After finally finding the girl, she was back to square one. Unless…

"Ciel, I want you to go through the server's data and find out where exactly those players just teleported to."

"Penny, that would take too long, they'll probably be long gone by the time I-"

"Ciel, do you want that raise and promotion I promised you, or are you satisfied with being my personal secretary for another unknown amount of years?"

There was a few seconds of silence from Ciel's end before Penny finally heard an overly annoyed groan. "Fine...I'll get on it right away."

"Thanks Ciel, you're such a great friend!"

"Last I checked, friends don't blackmail other friends with their career goals…"

* * *

"I cannot believe those three actually challenged Crimson Fall to a fight. Again." Pyrrha crossed her arms, glaring at the soon-to-be battlefield below her. She, Weiss, Blake, and Ren were standing on a small cliffside that acted as a place for spectators to watch the match.

"I can't believe our guild is called Resourceful Raiders..." Weiss muttered. "Sounds Barbaric."

"We put it to a vote, Resourceful Raiders won." Pyrrha stated.

"When?!"

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly as she began to play with her ponytail. "...a couple of months before you joined."

Weiss crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks as she fumed. Of course they voted on it before she joined. Next thing she knows, it was Crescent's idea."How can you vote on a guild name without even having a guild."

"Crescent was bored one day, it was her idea."

"Of course it was…" Weiss couldn't believe her luck.

"I can't believe you two are arguing over the guild name when you should be worried about your friends down there." Blake chimed in as she read through the game's lore for their current location via the holographic menu panel. "Judging by how Pyrrha freaked out-"

"I didn't freak out."

"Right, as I was saying, judging by how Pyrrha freaked out, I would assume that these Crimson Fall guys aren't exactly pushovers?"

Pyrrha sighed solemnly. "Yes. Though the last time we had a fight like this, it was Crescent and Jaune against Morgiana and Talaria. Crescent and Jaune were both pretty new to the game, unlike the rest of us at the time who had been playing since the game's launch. It took them a while to get used to the game's physics, and at the time of their fight with Crimson Fall, they were both still trying to figure out their playstyle, especially Crescent."

"Wait a minute, physics? You mean that things work differently in the game compared to real life?" Blake asked.

"Sort of, haven't noticed that you can jump slightly higher than normal?" Ren joined in, leaning against a nearby tree next to Blake. "In fact, I'd advise you to focus on agility since you're a rogue like me."

"I guess that makes sense."

As Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha chatted, Weiss was busy being worried about the outcome of the match. There wasn't anything she could do about it though as she wasn't chosen for the 3v3 match. She looked down at the field below her. A river cutting the land in half while also splitting the two teams and their bases. On the left of Weiss was Crescent, Jaune, and Boop's base that sat atop a hill with a cliffside towering over it. That castle being the place the battlefield was named after, Fort Castle. Weiss wondered what idiot thought that name was good for a fantasy setting. It was honestly lazy, if not comical. Then again, maybe that was the point. Across from Fort Castle and on the other side of the river, was a much darker, crude looking structure that resembled that of an old gothic church, made with dark bricks that practically screamed "Look here! I'm evil!".

"So...this is all quite well designed and detailed for something as simple as capture-the-flag." Weiss stated, admiring how natural the landscaped looked despite the obvious 'boxed canyon' design the battlefield had. She could tell that whoever did the modeling and planning for the map had certainly put a lot of effort and passion into it.

"Apparently it's supposed to be a historical battle in the world's history." Blake said as she swiped the page on her interface panel, still reading the game's lore as they all waited for the match to start.

"I just hope they don't make fools of themselves. Again…" Pyrrha muttered to herself.

Weiss glanced over at Fort Castle where Crescent, Jaune, and Boop were inside. No doubt planning their strategy. "Do you really think they can't win?"

"I never said that. Don't get me wrong, since their last little fight, Crescent and Jaune have definitely improved but they still lack a lot of experience in PVP combat. However, I think Crimson Fall is going to be surprised when they see exactly how Crescent has improved." The smirk on Pyrrha's face was a bit surprising from Weiss' point of view.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

"See what exactly?" A sudden and unknown voice joined in, prompting the group to look behind them. Everyone but Weiss and Blake looked at the unwelcome guest with hate in their eyes. A player with bright orange hair that covered one of his eyes stood before them, wearing an expensive and wealthy looking black and orange mage's robe. He looked to actually be an adult if his facial features were anything to go by, maybe in his late twenties to early thirties. What caught Weiss' attention the most however was his gentleman like demeanor, complete with an expression that almost looked playful if it wasn't for the menacing grin he wore.

"Caesar, what are you doing here?" Pyrrha spat, glaring at the older man.

"What? Can't a high ranking member of Crimson Fall watch his little ones play with the other kids?" The man known as Caesar twirled a small staff around in his hand, atop it was a glowing orange gem that burned a fiery trail in the air.

Pyrrha gritted her teeth, clearly not liking the fact that Caesar had a fair point. "Fine...just behave yourself."

Caesar walked over to a tree a couple feet away from the group, and seemed to be content with minding his own business. However, just as everyone could finally relax, another player showed up, spawning into the area between Caesar and the group. This time though, the player was a girl with bright green hair and wore a green and black witch's costume. The girl stared at Weiss and her friends for a moment, almost as if she was searching for someone, and then frowned.

"Damn it, she's not here…" the girl muttered. Weiss, as well as the rest of her friends, simply stared at the girl in utter confusion. However, before anyone could ask who she was, she eagerly walked up to Weiss and her friends. "Excuse me, where did your friend go? The one with the giant sword and short black hair with red highlights."

"What do you want with Crescent?" Pyrrha asked, a little uneasy by the girl's sudden appearance.

"I must talk to her, I am eighty five percent sure that she is the girl I am looking for." The girl chirped with a confident and determined nod. Weiss found the girl odd, to say the least. There was just something off about the way she seemed so chipper and confident. Maybe it was the pure randomness of the girl's sudden appearance and that she knows Crescent while everyone else seemed just as confused as Weiss was.

Weiss stepped forward, immediately grabbing the unknown girl's attention. "Um...I'm sorry, but she is kind of about to have a PVP match. What exactly do you need to talk to her about?"

"Oh, that's classified. But if you must know, I'm an old friend of hers...and I have something really important that I must speak to her about." For a second, the girl looked unsure when she claimed to be Crescent's friend and Weiss questioned whether this girl was really telling the truth or not. She didn't like this one bit, something was clearly suspicious about this girl.

"Well…" Pyrrha chimed in with a smile. "You can watch the match with us while waiting for her, if you want to."

The girl's eyes widened as she suddenly had a huge and excited smile. "Really!? I can watch with you?"

"I don't see why not." Pyrrha gave her a shrug. "So, what's your name?"

"Oh, you can call me Pen-, erm, Penelope. Yeah, Penelope" The girl gave an awkward smile, one that only fueled Weiss' suspicions.

* * *

Ruby tugged at the hem of her skirt. After about an hour of wearing this stupid Red Riding Hood costume, she still hadn't gotten to used to wearing it. She knows that her scars don't show up on her in-game character model but she couldn't help it. It was a subconscious effort on her part as the only person who has actually seen her scars was her sister, Yang, and maybe her father? She honestly wasn't sure if he had seen them since her father most likely would have seen them when she was still unconscious in the hospital. After she woke up, she had apparently already gone through surgery and her father wasn't allowed to be in the room whenever her bandages needed changing due to privacy issues. So as far as Ruby knew, her father had never seen her scars.

'No one can see them, you are in Beacons of Remnant, your scars literally don't exist here!'

"Alright, So while that's going on, Crescent should be able to swoop in and steal their flag." Jaune, making elaborate movements and gestures with his hands, finished talking about their plan and Ruby honestly wasn't exactly sure if half of Jaune's plan even made sense, she really should have been paying attention to Jaune instead of her damn scars...

"Right...So why are you, the only one in our guild who can heal, going to be guarding the flag...alone?" Boop asked, scratching her head with one hand while her other twirled her hammer effortlessly as if it were as light as a pencil.

"Because I have the best stamina out of the three of us, I can take more hits and keep them away from the flag."

"But what if they just sneak around you? Oh! Or better yet, what if they're just faster than you? I mean, they don't have to take you out to get the flag."

"Boop, I'm pretty sure I can defend the flag on my own. I mean, look at this place!" Jaune gestured to the room they were standing in. it was massive, mostly empty and had only two archways on either side of the castle itself as a way to enter and leave. The castle actually wasn't very big and only really consisted of one room with a large circle on the ground with their blue flag in the center. "There's no way they can sneak up on me, there's only two ways in or out."

Ruby sighed and placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Yeah, but I could really use your healing abilities in the field, Jaune. As a Paladin, you're the only one in our guild who can heal, even if it isn't your specialty. So, I think Boop should guard the flag."

"But Boop is a much better fighter. Plus, you two fight really well together."

"Okay, okay, how about this." Boop stepped in. "You and Crescent fight for round one and if that doesn't end well, we'll switch out."

Ruby nodded, with Jaune only doing so reluctantly, before making their way out of the castle. Ruby gave Nora a thumbs up as she left the castle. "Alright, We'll head on out to the frontline. Go ahead and give the ready signal, Boop!"

"Good luck out there!" Boop gave them a sappy salute before walking over to a wall where a wooden lever was situated and she pulled it with much enthusiasm. The second the lever was pulled, a flair shot out from atop the castle, signalling the start of the first round.

Ruby and Jaune rushed down their hilltop towards the river, with Ruby taking the lead with her superior speed. On the opposite side of the river, Talaria and Morgiana were doing much the same as Talaria rushed straight towards Ruby, grinning like mad. With her two handed sword in her left hand, Ruby leaped across the entire river and swung her sword downward to crush Talaria. However, with a second to spare, talaria dodged by just an inch and countered with a swift kick that Ruby managed to doge by leaping back.

Ruby then began circling around to Talaria's flank before charging in again, this time swinging her sword across his torso, but Talaria just barely dodge, the tip of Ruby's massive blade cutting across his chest. Ruby smirked as Talaria did a flip backwards to give himself distance away from her.

"I'll admit, you got a lot better." Talaria said with a grin, however, his grin lessened when he saw the cocky smirk on Ruby's face. "What are you smiling for, huh?"

Ruby didn't answer and instead charged once again in a blink of an eye, this time doubling her speed and gripping her sword with both hands for a more stable grip as she swung repeatedly, each attack either missing by a fraction of an inch or just making small cuts across Talaria, each cut making Ruby's blade become tainted by blood. Talara was caught off guard by Ruby's sudden speed and the way she shot in and out of his field of view only added to his confusion. He dodged almost effortlessly, using his speed to dance around Ruby's massive blade that was almost a blur to his eyes. After about twenty seconds, Ruby pulled away and gave herself a good ten feet of distance between Talaria and herself.

Talaria stood there for a moment, surprised that the attacks stopped. "What the hell? You didn't even do anything!"

Ruby chuckled and gave her opponent a wicked smirk, resting her now completely red blade on her shoulder. "Check again, asshole."

Talara groaned and checked his health, his eyes widened when he saw it was slowly but surely dropping. He then saw a single "dot" below his health where status effects would be displayed. "Poison!?"

"Bleeding, actually." Ruby then charged one last time as Talaria was caught off guard by the information, swinging her sword through his torso and delivered a killing blow. She heard a few cheers from the cliffside where her friends were which made her smile in glee. She did a quick glance at Jaune who was struggling with Morgiana and her spells but was somehow managing to hold her off. With Talaria out of the picture for the rest of the round, Ruby charged the enemy base to steal the flag.

* * *

Weiss cheered with the rest of her friends. She was in awe by the sure speed of the fight between Crescent and Talaria, both nothing but dancing blurs from where she stood on the cliff. "How did she do that? I didn't know Crescent could put status effects on enemies like I can."

"Well, technically she can't." Pyrrha said with a wide smile. "It's her sword, The Bleeding Edge. It's a one of a kind loot drop for killing a Nevermore dungeon boss in the Emerald Forest."

"So it's enchanted?" Blake asked as she watched Jaune's fight with Morgiana

"Well, lore wise it's apparently a cursed blade that causes bleeding upon even the smallest of cuts and the effect even stacks."

"That sounds OP…" Weiss said, amazed that such a weapon exists in the game.

"Well, it seems that way because Crescent is really fast." Pyrrha explained, only for Weiss and Blake to give her confused looks. Pyrrha sighed and was about to explain in detail, but the girl named Penelope beat her to it and began explaining with eager excitement.

"You see, the bleeding effect only does five points of damage every second and lasts for only a minute." Penelope said as she watched Crescent in awe. "Plus, most warrior weapons like Crescent's are extremely heavy and require a really high amount of strength to wield and Warriors usually don't have the agility to have a high attack speed"

After the strange girl's eager and abrupt explanation, Weiss looked down at Crescent as she ran across the field towards the enemy base, her black and red hair blowing behind her as she picked up speed. "So...To counter the obvious weakness in her weapon, she focused on agility and strength rather than stamina and strength like normal warriors."

Penelope was about to speak again, but this time Pyrrha stood her ground and answered Weiss. "Yep, it was actually a closely guarded secret between me and her. She wanted to surprise everyone when the right moment came."

Pyrrha suddenly wore a smug smile as she glanced at Caesar, who was looking both impressed and shocked by Crescent's easy victory over Talaria. Weiss had to admit, seeing Pyrrha look so confident and smug was always a rare treat to see as she usually wasn't very competitive and Weiss shared Pyrrha's smug smile. "I guess the right time was another fight with Crimson Fall?"

"Yep. Now let's just hope she can handle that Neo girl…"

* * *

Ruby rushed inside the old gothic church, the rows of pews were old and covered in cobwebs. The red flag that belonged to the enemy team sat at the altar all alone, prompting Ruby to slow to snail's pace as she crept through the building. She knew Neo was inside, hiding, waiting for her chance to strike. The wooden floorboards creaked and croaked with each step Ruby took and it only fueled her ever increasing anxiety. The moment Ruby was just feet away from the crimson flag, Neo Jumped down in front of her from above, wielding a saber that immediately danced just inches away from Ruby as she quickly stepped back. Neo drove Ruby back, her blade never ending it's flurry as Neo's body practically danced around her blade. Ruby wasn't expecting this level of speed and precision, Neo had always been a mystery among Ruby and her friends as none of them had ever seen Neo fight before.

Neo's speed was as surprising as it was relentless, the narrow walkway between the church pews gave Ruby little movement as she continued stepping back. However, when Neo swung low at Ruby's feet, Ruby jumped and kicked Neo in the chest, sending the smaller girl flying back. Ruby didn't hesitate as Neo regained her footing, she charged past Neo at full speed and grabbed the flag with her off hand, then made a B-line for the church's front doors, bursting out of the entrance with an enraged Neo hot on her trail. As Ruby ran across the field, she noticed a lack of spells being thrown about.

"Damn it, Jaune...you had one job."

Looking behind her, Ruby saw that Neo was a lot closer than she expected, just a mear foot of space away from striking her. It was official, Ruby was actually kind of scared by the small, mute girl who was managing to keep up with her at full speed, a first time thing for Ruby to experience. As of yet, nothing had been able to keep up with her in speed. Eventually, Neo began taking swings at her, occasionally jumping from one random rock to the next, but Ruby managed to dodge them with only mere inches to spare each time. By the time Ruby and Neo were closing in on the river, Ruby spotted Morgiana with their Blue flag and a very excited Nora giving chase.

"Hey Boop! How about a game of chicken!" Ruby hollered with a grin.

Nora laughed ecstatically as she began picking up speed, her hammer sparkling with electricity as she readied it for a powerful swing. "Do you even have to ask!?"

Both of them were on opposite sides of the river, closing in fast as Boop still chased after Morgiana and Ruby ran from Neo. Once both sides were at the river, Ruby jumped towards Morgiana, swinging her heavy sword clean through the green mage's torso. Nora jumped completely over Ruby however, hidden from Neo by Ruby's flowing red cape. When Nora emerged from behind Ruby's cloak, Neo was caught off guard as Nora swung her mighty, electrified hammer down on her and smashing the smaller girl straight down into the river below.

Ruby and Nora landed effortlessly on either side of the river, their landings syncing perfectly with the sound triumphant music echoing throughout the map, signalling the end of the round. Nora hopped on over two her side of the River with Ruby and leaned on her hammer. The red flag disappeared from Ruby's hand and Ruby too leaned on her weapon.

"Holy crap, that was a lot easier than I expected it to be…" Ruby muttered. She could have swore that she didn't hit Talaria a single time the first time she fought him. She hated to admit it, but his insult back at the inn about her swinging the sword like a clumsy cow wasn't entirely far off...to be honest, she really should have made sure she met the required strength of the sword she was wielding at the time. Plus, she had horrible swordsmanship skills back then. She just swung around hoping to hit her target.

After a few seconds, Jaune spawned beside them while looking rather gloomy. "I hate dying in this game…being in that white void for so long is scary."

"Yeah, they really should add some sort of spectator cam or something." Nora deadpanned, it was a legitimate complaint among the game's player base and one that the developers have stated they will fix in a future update. "Hey Crescent, how did your fight with Talaria go?"

"Oh I kicked his sorry ass to the moon and back!" Ruby laughed, remembering the shock Talaria had when she delivered the killing blow. "I wish you guys saw his face."

"I bet he was terrified!" Nora laughed and wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulder.

"Hey!" An angry voice joined in, belonging to none other than Talaria who was storming over to them and fuming with rage. "How the hell are you so fast! You're a damn warrior for fuck sake!"

"So? Just because I'm a warrior doesn't mean I can't put points in agility." Ruby deadpanned, smirking all the while. She was enjoying seeing the guy that had wiped the floor with her in the past suddenly unable to accept that he lost so easily.

"But...For fuck sake! Why the hell does a warrior need so much agility!?" Ruby backed away from Talara, she was actually starting to get a little nervous by his sudden anger as he glared at her.

"Hey, back off pal!" Nora stepped in front of Ruby, her hammer ready to swing.

"Talaria!" Morgiana was storming over now as well, looking rather annoyed at her partner. "What the hell do you think you're doing? We need to get back over to our base so we can start the next round."

"Fuck that! This stupid bitch is cheating!" Talaria pointed directly at Ruby, who simply rolled her eyes. Of course he accused her of cheating…

Ruby was about to turn around and walk away, not even wanting to bother with Talaria and his crap. However, the moment she did so, she was face to face with Caesar who stood over her. He was glaring at Talaria and Morgiana. "What in blazes is going on down here?"

"This stupid bi-"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Caesar's glare at the two younger Crimson Fall members was terrifying to say the least and Ruby couldn't have swore Talaria and Morgiana actually waver in fear. "Last I checked, you two aren't supposed to be online."

Morgiana managed to cut Talaria off before getting them into even more trouble. "Well, you see...um, we-"

"Neo?" Caesar suddenly said as Neo silently joined the group, Ruby noticed that Caesar looked surprised and alarmed by Neo's appearance. "What are you doing online? You should be in..."

Caesar suddenly cut himself off, looking at Ruby and her friends before taking Neo by the hand and leading her away and out of earshot. Ruby watched the two engage in sign language, wondering what they might be talking about. Ruby then looked up at the Spectator's Cliffside to See Weiss and her other friends watching from up top and looked just as confused as Ruby felt as they began making their way down the cliff by using a small path downward. Eventually, Caesar came back with Neo in tow and looking mentally exhausted.

"Alright, as much as I'd like to continue watching the match...Talaria, Morgiana, you two are done here." Talaria was about to complain, but Caesar didn't bother giving him the chance. "Get off before you two get into trouble. Or do you really want me to tell Miss Salem that you two went online despite being grounded?"

"Caesar!" Morgiana hissed quietly and pointed at Ruby and her friends. "Not in front of them."

"Fine, fine...whatever. Just get off before I change my mind. And that goes triple for you Neo…" Caesar didn't glare at Neo, instead he wore a frown when addressing the young girl. In contrast, Neo simply nodded with a happy smile before logging off right then and there. Talaria and Morgiana did the same, though they were rather reluctant compared to Neo.

"Hey! We still have two more rounds!" Ruby yelled at the Crimson Fall members, but it was too late, Talaria and Morgiana already logged off and Caesar hardly seemed to care.

"They weren't even supposed to be online, now go slay some slimes or something." Caesar scoffed as he opened an interface panel and began messaging someone.

"Ha! What, are you their parent or something?" Nora scoffed half jokingly.

"Something like that." Caesar sent whatever message he was writing and closed the messaging app. "Now if you excuse me, I have some more adult things to take care of, something you brats certainly wouldn't understand."

Ruby was going to refute that claim but Caesar didn't give her the time of day as he too logged off. Ruby growled and kicked the dirt out of spite, Caesar always got on her nerves, treating her and her friends like nothing more than annoying children.

"Crescent! That was amazing!" Weiss and the rest of the group ran up to Ruby, Nora and Jaune, along with a girl that Ruby wasn't familiar with. Something about her face though looked eerily familiar to Ruby, but she just couldn't quite place her finger on why.

"Jaune, you did wonderful!" Pyrrha ran up and hugged Jaune, earny a small giggle out of Nora and Weiss.

"Really? But I got my butt beat by a mage…"

"Hey, it's not your fault she kept knocking you away."

"Yeah! Plus, you held her off long enough to give Crescent the time to take the flag!"

A sudden cough interrupted the group's celebrations, prompting everyone to look at the girl named Penelope. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm kind of on a tight schedule and I really need to speak to, erm, Crescent was it?"

"Um, do I Know you?" Ruby raised a brow as she still struggled to figure out why she looks so familiar.

"Oh!" Pyrrha suddenly chimed in, though she looked a little unsure of herself. "Um, this is Penelope, she claims to be a friend of yours."

"yes, I really need to talk to you about something." The strange girl looked among Ruby's friends for a moment before looking back at Ruby. "Preferably alone."

Everyone was silent for a moment, with Ruby being wary of this Penelope girl. She didn't know anyone name Penelope and it wasn't clear whether it was her real name or just her in-game name.

"Hang on, why do you need to be alone with her?" Weiss suddenly asked.

"Yeah, that's kind of suspicious." Gambol took a step forward, closer to Weiss. "We've only met you and Crescent has never mentioned you before."

"It's fine, everyone." Everyone suddenly looked at Ruby, surprised that she didn't see a problem with it. "Geez, I don't see the problem in talking to her."

Honestly, Ruby thought it was stupid that everyone is being so defensive towards this Penelope girl, what's the worst that could happen?. So, Without wasting another moment, Ruby led the girl away so they could talk privately, and if she was being totally honest, she was really curious about who the girl was and why she wanted to talk to her so badly.

* * *

Weiss sat on a rock and watched Crescent and Penelope walk away, right alongside everyone else. The whole thing was weird. This green haired girl just showed up out of nowhere, looking specifically for Crescent, and knew that Weiss and the group were Crescent's friends before even asking for their names. Weiss also found it odd that the girl seemed to show up as if she knew exactly where they were. Several theories were running through Weiss mind, all leading towards the girl possibly being a hacker, which was a terrifying thought to have. However, something else that was odd caught her eye. Pyrrha and Blake were a couple feet away from the group, just barely out of earshot and whispering to each other. Weiss was the closest to them and was really surprised that she was probably the only one who could just barely hear them.

"I don't get it, I thought you said she didn't have any friends in school?"

"Well, me and Yang aren't always with her at lunch and we don't have every class together. Maybe it's someone we never noticed before."

"I don't think so, she looked just as confused as the rest of us…"

Weiss perked up upon hearing Blake mention Yang. What did Yang have to do with anything? And are they talking about Ruby? Weiss stood from her rock and quietly walked up behind Blake and Pyrrha, trying to hear more of their conversation. It was really suspicious of them to be whispering like this and Weiss was already suspicious of Pyrrha's reason for inviting Blake to play with them.

"Well...It's obvious by now that she's Crescent. But I still don't get why she keeps her hobby a secret."

Weiss had enough, she got right up behind them just inches away. "What are you two talking about?"

Both Pyrrha and Blake practically jumped out of their skin when Weiss showed up behind them. "Umm…."

"Well...you see…"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Crescent's voice suddenly echoed across the map, drawing everyone's attention to her, where she was hugging Penelope and lifting her off the ground.

"Um…" Weiss wasn't sure what to say or do in response to seeing Crescent look so happy while hugging the mysterious girl, her brain was still trying to focus on Blake and Pyrrha's suspicious conversation. She shook her head and faced Pyrrha and Blake again. "Anyway! What are you two going on about?"

* * *

"Alright, who are you and what do you want?" Ruby crossed her arms as she sat on a log. There was no point in prolonging this as she just wanted to get out of the way.

The green haired girl seemed to fidget for a moment before finally speaking. "Well, you see...I'm looking for someone that I met two years ago and I believe that you're that person."

"Um, okay?" Well that certainly didn't answer anything.

"Alright, um, I probably could have explained that better…" the girl rolled her eyes and sighed. "oh screw it, are you Ruby Rose?"

Ruby's eyes shot open as she stood up from her log. "W-Wha-how do you know-"

"I'm Penny Polendina, we met at the hospital exactly two years ago." The girl blurted out, suddenly looking nervous as she awaited Ruby's response.

Ruby stood there silently as her brain processed what she just heard. Penny Polendina, THE Penny Polendina, was standing before her once again. And Ruby still couldn't keep herself from squealing like a fangirl as she suddenly jumped up and down. "Oh. My. God!"

In a split second, Ruby hugged Penny in a tight embrace and lifted her off her feet, with a few tears falling down her cheeks. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I thought I'd never get to see you again and get to thank you for what you did!"

"Oh! Um, I'm glad you really liked my gift." Penny giggled before Ruby finally let her go and stepped back a few feet from Penny, who readjusted her witch's costume after being bunched up by Ruby's hug.

"Sorry...I just...you don't know how much your gift and this game mean to me…" Ruby fidgeted in place, unsure of how to present herself in front of the person that gave her a second chance to experience the ability to walk, even if it was digital.

"Oh I'm sure I can imagine. Penny stood with her hands on her hips, staring up and down Ruby's character model. "So, a warrior huh?"

"Yeah! I like being in the front of the action and their giant swords are so cool!" Ruby squealed and unsheathed her massive sword. "I was really lucky to get this rare sword, too!"

"Ooh! You managed to get Bleeding Edge! You are very lucky, indeed. It has a zero point zero one percent chance of dropping and only one of it exists in the entire server."

"I know! It's so cool!" Ruby stroked the side of her blade, petting it like a pet.

"Oh! I almost forgot, I really need to talk about a favor I need from you." Penny suddenly looked a bit serious, but her smile never wavered.

"A favor? What do you need?"

"Well, you see, as successful as the Full Real Virtual Reality system and Beacon's of Remnant have become, the amount of people who still can't actually experience them is pretty high. Sooo, I got a wonderful idea to allow people to see how great the tech and game is!"

"Okay?" Ruby raised a brow, unsure of where this was going.

"Polendina works is gonna work together with Spasm to launch the first ever Full Real Virtual Reality streaming! And I want you to be one of our first twenty streamers."

"W-What?" Ruby suddenly felt weak at the knees. She couldn't have heard that right, right? There's no way she could stream to countless amounts of people. "Penny, you can't stream with the virtual reality system, it's completely isolated on it's own network or whatever, right? I mean, I know I'm probably not using the right lingo or whatever here, but it's not possible to stream...isn't it?"

"That's why I'd be giving you a special version of the FRVR helmet! You see, Polendina Works has been working on a few upgrades and design ideas for a new helmet, and one of the features we'll be adding to it is the ability to stream!"

Ruby thought it over for a moment, that sounded amazing and all, but why choose her? "But why me? I'm not exactly amazing or anything."

"Oh! In order to help gain publicity, we thought it would be a good idea to have some of our streamers being people who have disabilities and who benefit from the FRVR in the same way you do."

Ruby furrowed her brows, glaring at Penny. "So you just want to use the fact that I can't use my legs to give your company good publicity?"

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that!" Penny suddenly clung to Ruby like a scared puppy, startling Ruby greatly. "I just thought it would, I don't know, be really cool to show that even people with severe disabilities like yours can enjoy the game…Please, I promise, I didn't mean to offend you or anything...I...I just want to make people happy like my father."

Ruby stared down at the pleading look Penny gave her and Ruby honestly couldn't bring herself to be mad at her. If there is anyone who could rival Ruby and her puppy dog eyes, Penny is certainly one of them. "Well…I don't know...I don't really like having a lot of attention directed towards me specifically because of my disability…"

"I know I called it a favor, but I don't mean to make it sound like I'm trying to force you...I just really wanted to see my friend again and maybe give you an opportunity to be a part of something fun."

"Wait, friend?" Ruby swore something was wrong with her hearing, she couldn't possibly have heard that right. There was no way someone as amazing as Penny could possibly consider her as her friend.

Penny tilted her head. "Yeah, we are friends, right?"

"Um, I guess. I just...I honestly thought you would have forgotten about me. I mean, you're Penny Polendina! You graduated college at the age of fifteen! I'm just some weak girl who can't even walk on their own two feet..."

"What?! Of course I haven't forgotten about you, I have a photographic memory. In fact, that's how I found you to begin with." Penny's wide and happy smile was something Ruby found infectious as she couldn't help but smile as well, though it was rather weak. "Also, you are certainly not weak, Ruby. You're the one that inspired me to come up with the idea of giving people with disabilities like yours the opportunity to spread their love for the game!"

"I-I am?"

"Yep, After I sent you the FRVR set, I was suddenly curious to see if there were anyone who used the FRVR like you, and I was surprised to find out that there are quite a few who do, though it pains me to say that the price makes it difficult for them to actually acquire it...it's a shame medical bills are so high."

As Penny frowned at the sudden depressing topic, Ruby was busy wrapping her head around the fact that she was the person who inspired Penny. She honestly hadn't thought of there being other people like her who played the same game as her, people who struggle like her and manage to enjoy the game regardless. Maybe Gambol was one of them? Or even Jaune? Ruby shook her head and refocused on Penny, who was quietly ranting to herself about how expensive things are in the health care industry

"Well, anyway...as cool as this all sounds...I still don't know if I can..."

Ruby managed to get Penny's attention instantly, and Penny tilted her head in confusion. "Is it a problem with your parents or something?"

'Huh, what a lucky guess…' Ruby stared at the ground as she tried to figure out how to explain herself. "Um, kind of? I never really told anyone about the FRVR set you gave me."

Penny raised a brow, still tilting her head. "I don't understand?"

"Well, you see...no one knows I play this game...My family just think I lock myself in my room and refuse to come out…" Now that she said it out loud, it sounded really pathetic and sad. Though, that wasn't really saying much...she's already pathetic and weak.

"Why keep it a secret?"

"Because I'm afraid that my dad will take it away if he finds out that the reason I haven't been doing my homework and avoiding family is because of the game…" Ruby struggled to not let her fear show as a tear threatened to break free. She couldn't possibly live with herself if she couldn't go online again and run around with her friends, she doesn't care if people think she's addicted or something, Beacon's of Remnant Online is one of the few things that still give her joy.

"If he takes it away...I don't know what I'd do with my life, it's the only thing that makes me happy..."

A brief silence fell between them as Ruby wondered what to do. The offer Penny was giving her sounded interesting, but she couldn't possibly play the game with countless people watching her. Then there was the issue with her family and her secret. She is definitely not ready to let that be known. As much as Ruby would love to be able to do something with Penny, there was just no way she could get around to it. Not to mention she was already busy with trying to get caught up with school work.

"Hmm...Oh! I know!" Penny got right into Ruby's personal space with a huge smile, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "why not just tell him that you want to be part of my streaming plan and then you can get the new helmet and I'd send a new suit for you too, that way it looks like you've never gotten one before! It's foolproof!"

"How would that work exactly? I thought you were inviting me personally?"

"Oh no, I am positive that would bring some legal issues. You'll have to apply first on our website even if you do tell me you'd wanted to right this very second. And besides, We still need to announce the event later this week."

"I see…" Ruby thought about Penny's plan for a moment, it could work and she wouldn't have to lie to her family anymore. It was too good to be true and that was the problem. It was too perfect…and if there was anything her uncle had taught her, it's that if it's too good to be true, it most likely isn't good. "That could work…is it okay if I think about it first?"

"Of course! It'll take a week or two for Polendina Works to go through all the applicants, but I'll try my best to hold a spot for you if I can. Just don't take too long." Penny chirped, giving Ruby a cheery smile. Ruby still couldn't believe she was talking to Penny. She honestly thought Penny forgot about her, it's not like she was anyone important, at least not from her perspective. Penny's in a completely different world than her after all.

"Oh crap, alright alright Ciel, I'll log off in just a sec!" Penny seemed to suddenly talk to herself, and Ruby was certainly a bit creeped out by it as she took a step back. "Sorry, that was my intern and secretary, Ciel. Apparently I forgot about an important meeting and so I'm afraid I'll have to go before Ciel complains even more."

"W-Wait!" Ruby grabbed onto Penny's arm out of instinct, she had so many questions for Penny.

"I'm sorry, I really have to go."

"Just answer one question, please?" Ruby did her best to make the perfect puppy dog eyes, and like clockwork, Penny eventually broke under her sad gaze.

Penny sighed in defeat and Ruby let go of her arm. "Alright, but make it quick."

Ruby quickly wore a giddy smile. Noone can ever resist the power of puppy dog eyes. "Okay, I promise this will be quick. So, um, why do you do all these things for me? Like sending me the FRVR kit a couple years back. Why go through the trouble of finding me again?"

Penny smiled at her, a warm and friendly smile. "Because we're friends, and friend's always do things for each other. Or at least, that's what my father always taught me. When you told me about your accident all those years ago, I wondered if there was anything I could do that would make you feel better."

Ruby was a bit shocked. Back then, she didn't know who Penny was. Ruby just thought Penny was just some random girl that was nice to her and visited her from time to time during her stay at the hospital. Ruby honestly didn't think too much about Penny back then. Ruby would be the first to admit that she wasn't exactly the friendliest person to be around during those first couple of months of her new life, and she'd admit that she didn't really think of Penny as a friend back then, just some friendly stranger. However, hearing how genuine Penny seemed to be, how eager she is to help not only Ruby but apparently other people like her. It wasn't something Ruby could deny.

Penny is certainly a good person.

Ruby smiled and gave Penny a hug, squeezing her tight. "Thank you."

Penny was startled by the sudden hug but quickly returned it in full. "You're very welcome, Ruby. Now, I gotta go. I haven't had dinner yet and I need to get something to eat before my meeting or else my father is gonna worry about my health even more than he already has."

Ruby's eyes shot open at the mention of dinner. "Crap! I forgot about dinner!"

Penny laughed as she opened up her menu panel. "Well, Have a good dinner Ruby! I hope to see you again later!"

"Bye!" Ruby barely even looked at Penny as she rushed to open her own menu panel. She could also hear Weiss and her friends running towards her but Ruby ignored whatever they were saying. She needed to get back to dinner, Qrow is home and she didn't want to miss having dinner with him. Plus, he's always the one who usually cooks whenever he's home and Qrow's cooking was to die for.

"Ru-Crescent!" Weiss yelled, rushing towards Ruby. "We need to ta-"

Ruby didn't listen, she was already logging out and before Weiss could even finish her sentence, Ruby had logged off the game.

* * *

Weiss stomped her foot into the ground one last time as she watched Ruby disappear. "Great...just great."

"Weiss…." Pyrrha whispered, just low enough for Weiss to hear.

"Don't you 'Weiss' me." Weiss spat out as she spun around, facing Pyrrha with a glare. "You lied to me, you didn't think to tell me that Crescent might have been Ruby? Do you have any idea how much easier it might have been to interact with her if I knew she was Crescent?!"

"Weiss, give her a break. It was only a theory." Blake stepped in, which only made Weiss' anger rise. Why did Blake of all people get to have this information and not her? Why did Pyrrha tell Blake and not her?

"And you! What do you have to do with all this? Huh? Is it just so you can win some stupid brownie points with your girlfriend?"

Blake got right into Weiss' face, glaring down at her. "Of course not! Yes, I want to help my girlfriend, but I also want to get to know Ruby more and figure out why she's so passive aggressive towards everyone,including her own family."

"Will everyone just shut up and explain to me what the fuck is going on!?" Boop butted in between Weiss and Blake, threatening both of them with her hammer.

Jaune and Ren stepped up behind Boop, with Ren trying to calm Boop down. Jaune stood between everyone, trying his best to make sure no one went at each other's throats. "Alright, let's just all settle down and just talk. No need to argue."

"What's there to talk about?! Apparently, Pyrrha and Blake have apparently known Crescent is Ruby and didn't think to tell me and oh my god I just said everyone's names out loud..." Weiss buried her face into her hands as she realized she also just revealed her own name as well, she couldn't believe she just outed herself. She honestly expected Blake to reveal her identity.

"Hold up, how the hell do you guys know about Ruby?" Boop had a menacing glare aimed at Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss, causing everyone but Ren to look at her with wide eyes, with Jaune simply looking as confused as ever.

"Who the hell is Ruby, Weiss, and Blake?" Jaune asked, looking at anyone who could answer the question.

Weiss raised her hand, while her face was still buried with the other. Might as well just get it out of the way now. "I'm Weiss…"

"And I'm Blake." Blake raised her hand as well before gesturing towards Weiss and Pyrrha. "I go to the same school as Weiss and Pyrrha."

"And I ask you again," Boop stomped over towards Weiss and Blake, glaring at them. "How the hell do you know Ruby? She wanted that to be kept a secret!"

Weiss and Blake shared a nervous look and Weiss found herself actually scared of Boop for the first time. "Umm...Well, you see"

Pyrrha suddenly stood in front of Boop, shielding Weiss and Blake. "Weiss is Ruby's tutor a friend, or atleast we think she is."

Boop raised a brow at Weiss, her glare only slightly wavering. "You Think you're friends?"

Weiss sighed. "Ruby hasn't exactly made it easy to befriend her...plus, I've only known her a little over a week. Or, well, at least I thought I did. Turns out I've known her for a couple of months now..."

Boop shifted her glare to Blake. "And you?"

Pyrrha stepped in front of Blake, just to make sure Boop didn't calm down. Everyone who was in the guild before Weiss and Blake knew that Boop can be quite protective of her friends, and judging by how she was acting now in regards to the situation, Pyrrha could tell that Ruby must be a really close friend. Hell, Pyrrha was still surprised that Boop actually knows Ruby.

"Blake is girlfriends with Ruby's sister, Yang. I met Ruby at school and thought that she seemed oddly familiar and realized that she sounds kind of like Crescent, but I could tell very well since she's always so quiet. And after a run in with her sister and Blake, I told her about the similarities and so we hatched a plan to figure out Ruby is indeed Crescent."

Boop took a deep breath, closing her eyes before finally opening them to look at Weiss and Blake. "Sorry for getting so mad. I can get a little protective of Ruby sometimes, she really, really doesn't want you guys to know about her secret." Boop chuckled as she suddenly had a weak smile. "Well, I guess you guys kind of already knew for a while though…"

"I don't understand, you knew all along?" Weiss, like Pyrrha, is surprised by the fact that Boop knows Ruby. In fact, it even further angered her as it seemed like she was the only one who wasn't informed of this vital information.

"Yep!"

"But aren't you like, nineteen or something? How do you know Ruby?"

"Oh, we met at the hospital! Long story involving several lightning strikes, meeting a depressed little girl, and a little love story where that little girl managed to encourage me to ask Ren out. You know, the usual "making friends" bs."

"Umm…" Weiss, honest to god, had no idea how to respond to that. She stared at the pinked hair girl for a good couple of seconds before turning to Ren, who simply shrugged with a soft smile aimed at Boop.

"Okay, can someone explain to me what is going on?! Because I feel so lost!" Jaune slumped onto a log with his hands thrown into the air. Weiss couldn't blame him, he wasn't exactly connected to Ruby in any way in the outside world. In a way, Weiss kind of felt sorry for him. Kind of.

Pyrrha walked over to Jaune and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, it seems like kind of a long story, and honestly, a huge mess too."

"Eh, it's Saturday night, I still got time for a story or two."

* * *

Ruby's body slowly woke up as she regained feeling from the waist up. She stretched out her back and heard a few pops. Yep, sitting in her wheelchair to play Beacons of Remnant is not exactly good for her body. Ruby didn't lament on that though as she rushed to change back into her t-shirt and sweatpants, before finally leaving her bedroom. The moment she opened her door, Ruby could smell her uncle's delicious cooking. She quickly wheeled herself into the dining room, where Her sister, father, and uncle were already seated and ready to begin eating.

"See? I told you she'd come out on her own, you just got to be patient." Qrow said as he gave Tai a confident smile.

"I'm so sorry I'm late." Ruby rolled herself up to her usual spot across from her sister and right next to Qrow. "I lost track of time doing my homework, which was a little easier than i thought it would be and I really love this homemade hamburger and it's so good!"

Ruby quickly stuffed her mouth with food in order to shut herself up. She was fully aware that she rambles when she's nervous or excited and she didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing in the middle of her ramblings. Qrow's home made cooking is just as good as she remembers, the meat practically melting in her mouth.

"Thanks, glad to hear that I still got it." Qrow cheered before taking another bite of his own hamburger.

"So Ruby, how's your homework coming along? You're not pushing yourself too much I hope." Tai asked as he wiped some sauce off his lips.

"Oh, I'm doing good. I should be caught up sometime next month if I keep up my pace." That is if she managed to fix the lack of sleep in her schedule. If not, she just might work herself to death.

"What about the Ice Queen?" yang added, making Ruby roll her eyes at the sound of Weiss' nickname. "Is the royal brat giving you any trouble?"

Ruby glared at her sister. "Weiss is fine, she's actually been a lot of help."

"Who's Weiss? And why is she giving Ruby trouble?" Qrow asked.

"She isn't giving me trouble."

"She's a stuck up rich girl."

Qrow looked at both Ruby and Yang, then at Tai who simple shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. I just know she's tutoring Ruby."

"Why do you need a tutor?" Qrow looked at Ruby in surprise. "Last I checked, you're a pretty smart cookie."

Ruby sighed, setting her hamburger down. "I am, I'm just kind of behind on some work…"

"Yeah, and by some, she means all of it." Ruby glared at Yang, causing her to throw up her arms. "What? I'm just saying."

"Still…" Ruby stuffed her mouth with her hamburger, hoping the conversation about her school work would just end.

"Anyways…" Tai started before his daughters could argue any further. "Qrow has some good news to share."

Qrow swallowed and smiled widely. "Oh, right! Almost forgot, I've recently been discharged from the army."

Ruby perked up, her cheeks bulging with food. She couldn't believe her ears "F'relly?!"

Qrow chuckled and tapped his cheek to signal Ruby to swallow before speaking, which prompted Ruby to do just that and wipe her mouth. Qrow took a quick sip of his water before continuing. "Yep, and I get to spend even more time with you kiddos."

"What did they discharge you for?" Yang leaned forward in her seat, excited for whatever outrageous story her uncle might tell. "Did you punch a general? Oh! Did you wreck a billion dollar aircraft!?"

"Ha! I wish. But no, nothing like that, it's just...oh how did Ironwood call it? For the convenience of the government." He chuckled, remembering the meeting he had with his commanding officer.

"So they finally got fed up with your crap, huh? I was wondering when they'd give up trying to deal with you." Tai took a quick drink of his water, smirking behind the glass.

"Eh, something like that. Anyways, I'll be staying in town with a friend of mine who got out with me."

"Aw, you won't be staying with us?" Ruby did her best puppy dog eyes, she was really looking forward to having Qrow around, it would certainly make lying to her father and sister easier and she always missed Qrow whenever he got deployed.

"Don't worry, Kiddo." Qrow ruffled up Ruby's hair, completely immune to Ruby's puppy eyes. "I'll make sure to visit as much as possible."

Ruby smiled a big toothy smile, prompting a sudden giggle from Yang. Ruby looked over at her, raising a brow. "What's so funny?"

Yang smiled softly at her. "I just haven't seen you smile like that in a long time, especially during dinner."

Ruby shrunk in on herself, the guilt of avoiding her family suddenly coming down on her like a boulder. "Oh, right...sorry, I guess I have been kind of depressing to be around lately."

"Nonsense, Ruby." Tai chimed in with a smile of his own, But to Ruby that smile only made her feel more guilty. "I know the last couple of years has been...difficult, to say the least. But if anyone has to apologize for anything, it should be me and Yang."

"What? Why? I-"

"We've been hovering over you, trying to do whatever it takes to make sure you're safe to the point where it seems like you lock yourself in your room in order to avoid us." Tai began to frown, he took a deep breath and smiled again. "What I'm trying to say is that me and Yang will try not to be, as Qrow put it, helicopter moms. Instead, we'll try our best to let you spread your wings."

Ruby stared at her father and sister for a moment, unsure of what to say. She wasn't really expecting this kind of conversation. Ruby certainly did feel annoyed whenever they treated her like the most fragile thing in the world and she never really bothered hiding it too well, but she certainly understood why they did what they did. Ruby wasn't stupid, she know's she's weak now, she know's there are things that she just wouldn't be able to do anymore.

"We'd really like it if you came out of your room a little more often." Yang suddenly chimed in. "I really miss playing games with my baby sister."

Ruby perked up at that, looking right into her sister's warm lilac eyes. The sudden memory of playing games in front of the TV with her sister came to mind, causing a small and guilty smile to tug at her lips. "I...um, I guess I could try to hang out in the living room more often...you know, whenever I'm not studying that is."

"Great! How about we play a bit of Grim Souls after dinner?"

"I...I'd like that."


End file.
